SAN ANTONIO — With San Antonio’s city manager of 13 years announcing her retirement on Thursday, the quest to replace the crucial position begins.
Sheryl Sculley said she will be done running the city by June 30, 2019, at which point Mayor Ron Nirenberg and city council will have to have someone to fill her shoes.
“This person manages all of the resources, all of the public resources that are provided for police and fire services, park services, libraries, infrastructure, your streets, your sidewalks—it’s a very difficult position,” Nirenberg said.
Finding candidates to succeed Sculley could prove difficult under the newly improve Proposition B. Earlier in November, voters said they wanted the city manager to be limited to eight years on the job.
Christian Archer, manager for the city's Go Vote No campaign, unsuccessfully fought against the proposed change.
“The problem with the term limits are how long is that person going to be completely engaged in being the city manager?” he said. “In thinking 10 and 20 years down the line when they are going to get fired?”
Prop B also trims the position’s salary down to 10 times that of the lowest tier of city employee pay—about $270,000.
“We’re going to limit our ability to attract that top talent by the amount of compensation we’re able to offer,” Archer said.
But the voters had their say earlier this month, and the day for the changed protocol to play a part has arrived.
“It’s a sad day for San Antonio, in my point of view,” Archer said. “I think it leaves a lot of uncertainty of our city and of the city manager’s position.”
Editor's Note: A previous version of this story misidentified Christian Archer. He was the campaign manager for the Go Vote No campaign against the San Antonio charter amendments.