The charter amendment campaign aimed at eliminating pay and tenure caps for San Antonio’s city manager has — so far — vastly outspent efforts to keep those caps in place, according to campaign finance reports.
That measure is called Proposition C, one of six city charter amendments on the Nov. 5 ballot.
RenewSA, a political action committee (PAC) backed by influential city and business leaders, spent nearly $423,000 between late September through Oct. 26 and had about $120,000 on hand.
The campaign supports all six charter amendments — but its emphasis is on Prop C.
That spending is roughly two and a half times the nearly $167,000 that the San Antonio Professional Firefighters Association’s PAC spent over three weeks in October. The PAC had about $10,000 on hand.
These pre-election spending and fundraising reports are the final reports required to be made public before the election.
That’s a far cry from the months-long $900,000 union-backed effort in 2018 that put the caps in the city’s charter in the first place — but one of the most effective campaign strategies the union deploys doesn’t cost a dime: firefighters and paramedics in bright yellow shirts at the polls, asking residents to vote no.
Alongside fundraising, the firefighters’ presence at the polls — though notable — is not as robust compared to 2018.
That’s mainly because the union’s Vote Against Prop C PAC didn’t start officially campaigning until earlier this month, said Joe Jones, president of the fire union. The union’s membership includes nearly all of the city’s roughly 1,800 firefighters and paramedics.
“It’s very difficult for firefighters to make time to go out and volunteer to work the polls, especially in such a short timeline … when you’re working a 56-hour work week, and you have to pick up extra shifts,” Jones told the San Antonio Report.
There is little-to-no animosity toward the current city manager among firefighters, Jones said. They recently scored a labor contract with the city that gives them more than 20% in wage increases over three years.
Still, fewer firefighters at the polls should not be interpreted as less enthusiasm to protect what the union fought for in 2018, Jones said. “It’s not about the person, it’s about the principle.”
In 2018, nearly 60% of voters supported the union-backed charter amendment that capped the city manager’s pay at 10 times that of the lowest-paid city employee and tenure at eight years. Entry-level city employees earn $37,440 annually ($18 per hour) so the city manager earns $374,400.
That initiative was aimed at former City Manager Sheryl Sculley, who was embroiled in a years-long battle to rein in costs associated with uniformed employees’ health care. Those caps didn’t apply to Sculley, whose salary was $475,000. They apply to Erik Walsh, who has held the position since 2019 and has a healthier relationship with the union.
Firefighers have a lot of sway at the polls, political consultant Demonte Alexander said during the San Antonio Report’s “Keys to the 2024 Election” CityFest panel on Thursday. “They’re likable. … When they really sink their teeth into campaigns, and they put all of their might in it, it’s difficult to be on the opposite side of them.”
Proponents of Prop C say the caps need to be removed in order to hire the best and brightest to oversee the day-to-day operations of a nearly $4 billion municipal organization. Opponents, including the fire union, argue that the caps ensure pay equity for city employees and there should be a turnover of city leadership for fresh perspectives.
Sculley wrote a $1,000 check to the pro-Prop C RenewSA campaign. The Greater San Antonio Chamber of Commerce, USAA, Valero Energy Corp., local grocer H-E-B, and Silver Ventures Chairman Kit Goldsbury each contributed $50,000.
All six charter amendments will likely “rise and fall as a package because of the lack of information” about what they mean for the city’s future, RenewSA campaign manager Kelton Morgan said at the CityFest event.
The amendments are at the bottom of a long ballot and some voters may find the language confusing.
Voters who are mainly motivated by the presidential race will likely see “firefighters in their bright yellow shirts, holding their ‘Vote no on Prop C'” signs and take their advice, political consultant Laura Barberena said. “This is troubling.”
Morgan’s turnout models show that about 600,000 people will vote in San Antonio, he said. “About 475,000 of them have never cared enough about a municipal issue to show up and vote in a municipal election.”
Those voters are”wholly unknowns,” Morgan said.
