San Antonio City Council says City Manager Sheryl Sculley is golden--literally.City Concil agreed to pay Sculley a $75,000 bonus and raise her base pay from $450,000 to $475,000 after Council members say she passed her annual performance review with flying colors, News Radio 1200 WOAI reports.
“The City Manager continues to do a great job providing sound fiscal management of taxpayer money and maintaining our best-in-the-nation bond rating,” Mayor Ron Nirenberg said.
Sculley was given high marks for everything from the City's preparations for Hurricane Harvey to the recovery from the February tornadoes to regular and efficient garbage collection.
But the main reason Sculley received praise, and a financial bonus, is the city's continued AAA bond rating, which allows the city's bonds to be sold with much lower interest, freeing up more money for city projects.
“Running the City is tough. Not only do you have politics, but it’s like running 30 different businesses. She’s not just overseeing pothole repair. Sheryl’s also responsible for public safety, the airport, pre-K education, building infrastructure, catching stray animals and picking up garbage for nearly 500 square miles,” Councilwoman Shirley Gonzales said.
But not everybody on City Council is down with Sculley's glowing performance review.Northwest side Councilman Greg Brockhouse questioned the city's often repeated commitment to 'equity' when what he called an 'embarassing amoung of money' is lavished on the City Manager, who now makes three times as much as the Governor of Texas and more than the President of the United States or a Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.
The average San Antonio salary in 2017, according to the Census Bureau, was about $47,000 a year.
Brockhouse also criticized the Council for voting to award the bonus and the pay raise in a private session, away from input from the taxpayers who foot the bill.
He also said more specific criteria should be established for the annual review of the manager and other top City employees.