SAN ANTONIO – All six amendments to San Antonio’s city charter passed easily Tuesday night, including council member salary increases, longer terms and removing caps on the city manager position.

The changes don’t become official until the San Antonio City Council reviews the results on Nov. 19, but not all of them take effect immediately.

PROP A — Ethics Review Committee

The first proposal adds a definition of conflicts of interest and allows the ethics review board to refuse to handle an ethics complaint if it has been handled elsewhere, such as a human resources investigation against a municipal employee.

Both are paper changes that take effect immediately.

The proposal also calls for the ERB to obtain adequate funding. City Attorney Andy Segovia said this is already happening and this measure is more about the future.

PROP B — Language update

This only changes obsolete language and parts superseded by state law. The changes will occur immediately, but will have no substantial effect on city operations.

PROP C — Remuneration and mandate of the municipal director

Under caps set by voters in 2018, the city manager is currently not allowed to earn a salary more than 10 times that of the lowest-paid city employee, and must leave the position after eight years.

Current City Manager Erik Walsh’s $374,400 salary is based on the city’s starting minimum wage of $18 an hour, and he is scheduled to leave by March 2027. Or, at least, he is. he did it.

The countdown to his term as city manager will stop immediately, but a pay increase likely won’t come until the city council does its annual evaluation near the end of the year.

PROP D — Employee political activity

Police officers and firefighters can already participate in local campaigns. Now most civilian employees will be able to do this as well.

Once the vote is taken on November 19, most city employees can volunteer for the council or mayor’s campaign of their choice. However, they will not be allowed to do so on city time or use city resources.

Top city officials, from department heads to department heads, are still barred from participating in local campaigns.

Proposition D also includes a ban on retaliation for political activity, whether by bosses of employees in city ranks or elected officials.

PROP E — Salary of the Council and the Mayor

Council members’ salaries are increasing and the mayor will not touch the council’s bank accounts. Instead, they will take effect when the next 11 members are sworn in in June.

• ADVICE: $70,200 (instead of $45,722)

• MAYOR: $87,800 (instead of $61,725)

Proposition E also tied future changes to the median income of four-member U.S. households in housing and urban development for the San Antonio metropolitan area (80% and 100%).

Segovia said it was designed so there was no discussion or discretion. Each year, the salary is adjusted as soon as the city receives these figures.

PROP F — Duration of Council mandate

The term of office for a council or mayor will double from two to four years, starting with the winners of the May 2025 elections.

However, the overall ceiling of eight years of mandate will be maintained.

If a serving council member is in danger of exceeding the eight-year limit, they will be required to leave office during their final term. A special election would then be held to allow someone to complete the remaining two years.

Councilwoman Adriana Rocha Garcia (D4) and Councilwoman Melissa Cabello Havrda (D6) are both serving their third terms on the council but are unlikely to be affected. Rocha Garcia is already running for mayor and Cabello Havrda has announced her intention to run.

Councilwoman Sukh Kaur (D1), Councilwoman Mariana Alderete Gavito (D7) and Councilman Marc Whyte (D10) are all in their first terms and could potentially run into the eight-year cap if they continue to seek re-election.

Members currently in their second terms – like Councilman Jalen McKee-Rodriguez (D2), Councilwoman Phyllis Viagran (D3) and Councilwoman Teri Castillo (D5) – are now completing their second terms on the City Council and are not likely to exceed the ceiling. .

More coverage of the San Antonio city charter changes on KSAT: