Update on the City Charter Review Commission
The Mayor-appointed City Charter Review Commission has completed deliberations and will present its recommendations to the City Council in the June 5th B Session. The Council can accept recommendations in their entirety or make edits in determining what should be on the November 2024 ballot for public consideration.
The Commission’s charge included work on these areas:
Ethics Officer & Other Ethics Revisions:
- Whether the City should be able to appoint an independent ethics auditor with a legal background.
- RECOMMENDATION: No amendment.
- Whether the Ethics Review Board (ERB) should be autonomous with independent oversight and power to compel testimony, and whether any additional recommendations would strengthen the effectiveness, 权威, and/or jurisdiction of the board.
- RECOMMENDATION: Amend charter to define “conflicts of interest”, appropriate sufficient funding for ERB, remove term limits of members, and increase discretion to refuse complaints already resolved.
City Council Compensation & Term Length:
- Whether City Council members should be compensated on indexed terms that more accurately reflect the city’s cost of living and lower barriers to participation in City government City Council member compensation and term length.
- RECOMMENDATION: Amend charter to re-baseline Council compensation to $80,000 and Mayor compensation to $95,000, indexed to annual CoSA civilian wage increase.
- Whether Mayor or Mayor and Council terms should be extended to four years with a limit of two terms, and whether such terms should be staggered.
- RECOMMENDATION: Amend charter to include four-year terms to run concurrently. Total years of service should remain at 8.
City Manager Tenure & Compensation:
- Whether the City Council should have the 权威 and discretion to hire, 管理, and determine the length of service of the City Manager.
- RECOMMENDATION: Amend charter to remove language capping tenure.
- Whether the City Council should determine the compensation of the City Manager so that market and competitive indicators are taken into account.
- RECOMMENDATION: Amend charter to remove language capping compensation.
City Council Districts & Redistricting:
- Whether an increase in single-member Council districts would appropriately enhance representation for San Antonio residents.
- RECOMMENDATION: No amendment to increase number of districts, but amendment to add opportunity for redistricting if voters elect to increase districts in future charter election instead of only after decennial census.
- Whether the decennial Council redistricting process should be conducted by an independent, autonomous citizens committee and how such a committee’s membership shall be appointed.
- RECOMMENDATION: Amend charter to create redistricting commission including provision on who can be appointed and requirement of supermajority of Council to amend commission’s proposed redistricting plan.
Language Modernization:
- Whether the Charter shall be generally amended to update its language to more accurately reflect current processes, acknowledgments, 和角色.
- RECOMMENDATION: Amend 117 sections of the Charter containing outdated and superseded provisions.
Your Greater Chamber will encourage City Council to offer Charter amendments removing the cap on tenure and pay for the City Manager for public consideration in November. If you have questions or concerns, please contact Katie Ferrier kferrier@chriswaldegar.com.