San Antonio City Manager: Powers, Hiring, Salary Cap, and Term Limit

The San Antonio city manager is the chief administrative officer who runs the day-to-day operations of city government, overseeing roughly 13,800 municipal employees and a $4.06 billion annual budget.¹ Erik Walsh, a San Antonio native, has held the position since March 1, 2019.² The job carries enormous operational authority, but the person who holds it is appointed by, and serves at the pleasure of, the eleven-member City Council.

What the City Manager Does

Article V, Section 46 of the City Charter spells out nine specific responsibilities. The most consequential are enforcing city ordinances, appointing and removing department heads throughout the administrative branch, and supervising every city department.³

The manager also prepares the annual budget, submits it to the council, and administers it after adoption. That single responsibility shapes how billions in public funds move through police, fire, parks, infrastructure, and social services each year. The manager must keep the council informed about the city’s financial condition, deliver year-end reports, and attend every regular and special council meeting. They participate in council discussions but hold no vote.³

How the Job Fits Into City Government

San Antonio uses the council-manager form of government, established by Article II, Section 2 of the City Charter. All city powers rest in the elected council, which passes local laws, adopts budgets, and sets policy. The council then appoints a professional city manager to carry those decisions out.⁴

The split is deliberate. Council members focus on representing their districts and setting policy; a professional administrator handles the mechanics of running a city with a multibillion-dollar budget. Section 47 of the charter reinforces that boundary with real teeth. Council members cannot direct or request the city manager or any subordinate to hire or fire anyone, and they must deal with the administrative branch solely through the manager, not by giving orders to staff publicly or privately. A violation counts as official misconduct, and a two-thirds vote of the council after a public hearing can expel the offending member and declare the seat vacant.⁵

How the City Manager Is Hired and Fired

Article V, Section 45 of the charter governs both. The council appoints the manager based on “executive and administrative qualifications,” and anyone who has served as an elected member of the city’s governing body is barred from the job. The manager must live inside San Antonio city limits while serving.⁶

Since 2018, appointment requires a supermajority of at least 67 percent of the council’s membership. That threshold came in with voter-approved Proposition B and makes it harder for a narrow faction to install its preferred candidate.⁶

Removal needs only a simple majority, but the process has safeguards. The council passes a resolution stating its intention to remove the manager and the reasons, and the manager receives a copy immediately. The manager then has twenty days to respond in writing and may request a public hearing. If one is requested, the council must hold it before the final removal resolution can pass. The council may suspend the manager during this period, but salary continues until removal is final.⁶

Salary Cap and Term Limit

Proposition B, which San Antonio voters approved in November 2018 with roughly 59 percent of the vote, placed three limits on the position: a salary cap, a term limit, and the supermajority appointment threshold above.⁷

The salary cap sets total compensation at no more than ten times the annual salary of the lowest-paid full-time city employee.⁶ For fiscal year 2026, the city’s pay plan shows the lowest full-time annual salary at $37,440, which puts the theoretical ceiling for the manager’s compensation at $374,400.⁸ When Proposition B first passed, the city estimated the cap would be around $290,000, so the ceiling has risen with entry-level wages.⁷

Proposition B also added language that the city manager “may not serve any more than eight years.”⁶ For Erik Walsh, that would have ended his tenure around early 2027. In December 2024, however, the City Council voted to make Walsh’s term indefinite and approved an $87,000 pay increase. The legal mechanics of adjusting a voter-approved charter provision remain a point of public discussion, but the practical effect was to remove the eight-year clock for the current manager.

Who Works Under the City Manager

No one runs a city this size alone. The city manager’s office includes a deputy city manager and several assistant city managers, each supervising a cluster of departments. Deputy City Manager María Villagómez oversees the Office of Management and Budget, Finance, Human Resources, Information Technology Services, the Office of the City Clerk, Neighborhood and Housing Services, the Office of Equity, and the San Antonio Public Library.⁹

As of 2025, the assistant city managers are Jeff Coyle, Alex Lopez, David McCary, John Peterek, and Interim Assistant City Manager Justina Tate.¹ Each covers a different portfolio, from public works and transportation to development services and culture, so decisions reach the city manager through experienced leaders who specialize in their assigned areas.

What the City Manager Controls Financially

The budget is where the manager’s authority shows up most concretely. For fiscal year 2026, San Antonio adopted a total budget of $4.06 billion: a $1.69 billion General Fund (42 percent), a $1.21 billion Restricted Fund (30 percent), and a $1.1 billion Capital Program (28 percent).¹⁰

Public safety dominates the General Fund. Police, fire, and parks police together account for 63.7 percent of General Fund spending, roughly $1.08 billion.¹⁰ The manager prepares the budget proposal, submits it to the council, and then manages its execution across the fiscal year, which determines staffing, infrastructure timelines, and service quality in every department.

Financial Disclosure

The city manager files two financial disclosure forms each year: a Personal Financial Statement required under Chapter 145 of the Texas Local Government Code, and a City Personal Financial Statement Addendum required by San Antonio City Code Section 2-74. Both filings are public records available through open records requests.¹¹

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City of San Antonio. City Manager
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City of San Antonio. City Manager, Erik Walsh
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City of San Antonio. Charter of the City of San Antonio – Section 46
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City of San Antonio. Charter of the City of San Antonio – Section 2
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City of San Antonio. Charter of the City of San Antonio – Section 47
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City of San Antonio. Charter of the City of San Antonio, Texas – Section 45
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City of San Antonio. Notice of Charter Amendment Election – Proposition B
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City of San Antonio. Pay Plan FY 2026
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City of San Antonio. Deputy City Manager, Maria Villagomez
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City of San Antonio. Adopted Budget
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City of San Antonio. Office Holders and Candidates – Personal Financial Statements