No monumental court decision on Rebel statue
Judge orders group, city to seek a settlement
The battle rages on over the removal of a Confederate monument and related time capsule from Travis Park.
A federal judge declared it a stalemate Wednesday and ordered the adversaries — the local chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy and the city — to attempt a settlement.
The Confederacy group sued over the removal and claims ownership of the statue and time capsule and the right to use the center of the city park where it placed them 120 years ago.
Over time, the statute depicting an unnamed Confederate soldier came to be viewed as a symbol of racism and oppression, like many such monuments and plaques in the South.
After a 10-1 City Council vote in 2017, crews worked in the middle of the night to dislodge the statue with its time capsule and two Civil War cannons.
They were put in storage and have remained in separate, undisclosed locations for the past 17 months.
Their fate had Senior U.S. District Judge David Ezra trying to steer the parties away from a fullblown trial that he said would be long, costly and not worthwhile.
Although city officials have said they would like the monument displayed in a museum, Ezra said no local museum or heritage group with resources to do that has been identified.
Thomas Crane, lawyer for the UDC chapter, said he had fully expected the
selection. “I think we may very well see two city managers for San Antonio … in the sense that perhaps María’s time just hasn’t come yet, but she is every bit as qualified to run a big city as Erik is, and Erik was just ready right now.”
Neither candidate spoke to reporters after the decision, but Nirenberg said Villagómez told him she’s as excited as ever to serve the city.
“She’s a rising star,” the mayor said, but Walsh brought a breadth of experience that was unparalleled.
“He knows, and is familiar with, and has high esteem from just virtually every constituency that is in this city. … Erik slips into that position and represents us all very well,” Nirenberg said.
Walsh, a San Antonio native who went to Central Catholic High School and has two degrees from Trinity University, has been a deputy or assistant city manager for most of Sculley’s tenure. He currently oversees many of the city’s most important departments, including police and fire. A third of the city’s $2.8 billion budget falls under his portfolio.
Sculley announced she would retire soon after the Nov. 6 election, when voters overwhelmingly approved a charter amendment — pushed by the city’s firefighters union — that set a salary cap and tenure limit for future city managers.
While the amendment didn’t affect Sculley, it widely was regarded as a referendum on her highest-in-thenation compensation: a $475,000 salary with up to $100,000 more in bonuses.
During her tenure, Sculley worked for four mayors and is credited with improving city finances and services. She stewarded three massive bond projects, implemented the Pre-K 4 SA program that’s hailed as a model and brought a budgeting approach that has enabled the city to maintain a triple-A bond rating, among numerous other accomplishments.
Walsh is the top earner among Sculley’s highestranking subordinates, with a base salary of $256,733. He would make up to $312,000 in the top job and can’t stay in the role more than eight years, according to the new rules approved in the charter amendment.
During his public pitch Wednesday, Walsh reiterated that he thought he was the best man for the job.
“I applied for this position because I want San Antonio to be economically viable, safe, and culturally inspiring, and a place where people want to work, grow and raise a family,” Walsh said. “Personally, that’s important to me.”
Walsh is familiar, low-key and well-liked — qualities that were important in choosing a successor to Sculley. Her considerable accomplishments over the past 13 years came to be overshadowed by complaints that she was too powerful, too abrasive and too highly paid.
For years, Walsh also has handled collective bargaining negotiations and highprofile contracts. Nirenberg has called the city’s rift with the fire union one of its great conflicts heading into San Antonio’s new era.
All six of Sculley’s top lieutenants made it to the field of eight semifinalists, leading to an awkward situation in which co-workers interviewed for the job one after another. Sculley said it was meaningful that her successor would come from that group.
“I’m proud of all six of the applicants. … These two were outstanding candidates, it will be a difficult decision for the council,” Sculley said Wednesday afternoon as Walsh and Villagómez headed into their private interviews. “I think it will boil down to who the council members feel most comfortable with, in terms of the executives having the ability to execute on their policy initiatives and directives.”
The outgoing city manager said this process has starkly contrasted with the last one in 2005, when no internal candidates were considered and Sculley was brought in to revitalize the city’s organization.
During her tenure, the city replaced all 40 or so of its department heads and worked to recruit and develop the best talent in the country, she said.
“This is very different,” Sculley said. “The city manager that will be selected now is inheriting a much stronger leadership group and executive organization, and a stronger city of San Antonio.”
The public symposium is next Wednesday at the University of Texas at San Antonio’s downtown campus. If the council approves him as planned Jan. 31, Walsh assumes the role Feb. 1. Sculley will stay on during the transition.