A majority of City Council members want voters to decide whether to allow city employees to donate to or campaign for candidates for City Council and mayor.

That isn’t something the Charter Review Commission recommended — or even thoroughly discussed — despite it being something that residents advocated for during the commission’s public comment sessions.

District 6 Council Member Melissa Cabello Havrda told commission members Wednesday that she wished they had debated the issue.

“I would have liked your opinions and your expertise,” said Cabello Havrda, a potential mayoral candidate.

Members of the mayor-appointed commission briefed the City Council Wednesday on their proposed changes to the city charter — based on sections of the city’s governing document that Mayor Ron Nirenberg directed them to review. The most notable sections included those that set city manager and City Council tenure and compensation.

The mayor and 10-member council is scheduled to decide Aug. 8 which amendments to put on the November ballot.

Nearly half of the council took issue with the commission’s recommendation to almost double council’s salary — from the current $45,722 to $80,000 — and to bump the mayor’s pay from $61,725 to $95,000. The commission arrived at the new figures by using U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics area median income estimates for “management and professional occupations,” which was $81,763 in 2023.

The commission also recommended that these elected officials receive annual raises in line with those given to the city’s civilian employees.

Nirenberg and council members Adriana Rocha Garcia and Teri Castillo instead pushed for tying pay to area median income set by the U.S. Census Bureau. That was $58,829, according to 2022 Census estimates.

Jalen McKee-Rodriguez advocated for paying council the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development-calculated area median income for a family of three, which is $79,100 for 2023, or for a family of four, which is $88,600.

“I don’t see an immediate path for starting a family while I’m on council, and that’s a sacrifice that we would be asking many members of our community to weigh against the opportunity to serve the community in this capacity,” said the District 2 council member, who, at 29, is the youngest person on council.

District 9 Council Member John Courage favors using the average salary for a civilian city employee, which is close to $65,000. The mayoral candidate said the commission’s salary recommendation “is excessive and would be to the thinking of the voters in this city, and I’m afraid they’d turn it down.”

Council members were also divided in their support for the commission’s recommendation to change council and mayoral terms from two to four years (the total years of service would remain capped at eight).

Castillo, Rocha Garcia and council members Phyllis Viagran and Marina Alderete Gavito pushed for keeping two-year terms.

“I think shorter term limits for this level of government hold representatives accountable,” said Alderete Gavito, who has represented District 7 since last June.

“I think it’s worth asking the question, what is the remedy when a district elects a candidate who knows how to win a campaign but doesn’t know how to govern effectively?” Alderete Gavito said.

Members who want to see terms lengthened said that residents can petition to remove a council member through a recall election.

With the exception of Castillo, council was united in their support for the commission’s recommendation of doing away with the salary and tenure caps that voters imposed on the city manager in 2018. That would allow the council to pay City Manager Erik Walsh what it sees fit and to keep him in the position beyond eight years — the cap on his time in the job.

Walsh cannot be paid more than 10 times what the lowest-paid city worker earns — a cap Castillo wants to remain in place.

Courage is the only council member who opposes giving civilian workers the ability to participate in campaigns.

As it stands, with the exception of police and fire personnel and City Council aides, city staffers are prohibited from donating to or campaigning for candidates running for City Council or the mayor’s office. Dallas is the only other large Texas city with similar restrictions on civil service workers.

The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees is pushing for the change. The union represents about 450 city of San Antonio employees.

Courage said he’s worried workers will face “undue influence” from either other city employees or from “outside forces,” who might give them the impression that their job is at risk were they to not support a specific candidate.

Nirenberg, on Wednesday, finally made his thoughts on such a charter change known.

“If other cities can figure this out, so can we,” he said.