Council takes up aides’ salaries
But discussion on benefits left out
In the wake of heated debate over pay for San Antonio City Council aides and the threat of a lawsuit over allegations of federal labor law violations, a council committee recommended Wednesday that council members evenly divide additional funding for pay raises among their respective offices.
But the committee didn’t get into the controversial issue of benefits, which annoyed several council members who had expected that to be addressed at Wednesday’s meeting.
“Is there any reason why my staff shouldn’t get the same benefits that city of San Antonio staff get?” Councilman Manny Peláez asked rhetorically.
Members of the committee charged with studying council aide compensation said there wasn’t enough time to get into benefits, noting they faced a tight deadline to made recommendations on how to divide the more than three-quarters of a million dollars that the council set aside last year for pay raises this year.
In the plan presented to the council Wednesday, the committee recommended each council office and the mayor’s office receive $79,000 in additional funding.
The committee also recommended that the city set a council aide salary cap of $116,737 and that council members adopt job requirements for aides.
“If there’s something that isn’t right, we are going to fix it,” Mayor Ron Nirenberg said. “I think I speak for all of us when I say we as elected officials rely heavily on our staff to get us through each and every day. If what we are hearing from experts and the city is that a little more can be done then we should do a little more.”
Pay raises are expected to start Feb. 1.
The compensation talks began last summer when Councilman Roberto Treviño filed a council consideration request calling for $1.3 million in additional funding for aide salaries, a 23 percent in
crease.
In September, the council set aside $870,284, twothirds of what Treviño requested, for the raises.
Before the raises could begin, Nirenberg appointed a committee to review how council workers and city employees are paid. The committee researched pay structure in other cities, issued questionnaires to council aides and learned about the tasks of council aides.
Council aides are contract workers hired by council members. Aides' pay can vary widely, depending on their experience and responsibilities, which include fielding phone calls from constituents, preparing presentations, talking to the media, attending neighborhood association meetings and navigating zoning cases.
The average salary for council aides was $56,103 last year; council members decide the salaries of their aides. Pay ranges from $30,000 to more than $90,000 for chief of staff, which also is considered a council aide.
Last year, each council office received about $489,000 to pay and provide benefits for up to seven employees. While all are classified as “council aides,” the positions include communications director and events specialist as well as chief of staff, among others.
Councilwoman Shirley Gonzales said that money, however, is used not only to pay for staff, but also for travel expenses, office equipment, mailing costs and renting workspace.
“If there is a concern in our council budget about compensation, perhaps that council member could consider traveling less, or not having a second field office, or not having a full time communication officer,” Gonzales said. “That is entirely up to us to decide.”
“It is the council members' discretion to use the money as effectively and transparently as possible,” Gonzales added.
Aides do not receive the same levels of health insurance, retirement benefits and other perks as do San Antonio employees. They also don't get overtime, although they sometimes work late and on weekends.
Lori Steward, the city's human resources director, said benefits for council aides are something the committee will look at.
In the midst of the committee's work, several unnamed aides, through labor attorney Javier Espinoza, sent a letter in October to City Attorney Andy Segovia listing grievances.
They are seeking overtime pay as well as compensation for “past lost wages and benefits,” among other demands. If those demands aren't met, aides could take the city to court, Espinoza said.
Espinoza has said the coalition wants to resolve the pay disparity dispute in mediation with Segovia, Nirenberg and council members “without opening the floodgates of potential litigation to hundreds of current and former employees.”