On the day after Election Day, San Antonio city employees woke up to some good news.
Proposition D, a ballot measure that would allow city employees to participate in local elections, passed with nearly 63% support. It struck out language from the San Antonio city charter — added in 1951 — that has prohibited city employees from participating in activities to support local candidates.
According to Patricia Reck, a recently retired master teacher for the San Antonio city school Pre-K for SA, the language restricted her freedom.
“We could not, as city employees, fully participate in municipal elections,” said Reck, who was a member of AFSCME Local 2021 and is looking to become an AFSCME retiree member. “We could vote, but not much else. Every year, the city attorney would send us an administrative directive restricting our political participation. It was just so punitive. It was basically taking away our freedom of speech as residents of the city.”
Andrew Gregory, an airport operations specialist for San Antonio International Airport and a member of Local 2021, observed that the city charter’s restrictive language affected the environment at work.
“It had a chilling effect amongst city employees,” Gregory said. “We couldn’t freely talk, there was confusion on what exactly advocacy entailed.”
Prop D passed after Local 2021 members came together to take action. Since March, Local 2021 members — who are all civilian employees for the city — met with San Antonio’s City Charter Committee and testified before the city council.
Once councilmembers voted to put the measure on the Nov. 5 ballot, AFSCME Local 1624 members who work for the city of Austin and Travis County joined Local 2021 members to talk to San Antonio voters at their homes, worksites and over the phone to boost support for Prop D. AFSCME members and staff also participated in three member-to-member block walks, one of which included Secretary-Treasurer Elissa McBride.
Aidan Robinson, a security guard at San Antonio International Airport, was one of the many city employees to speak up for Prop D.
“When you're a city worker, you are doing it for the love of your community,” said Robinson, who’s also a member of Local 2021. “I advocated for our city to allow us to participate in local elections, just like any other San Antonio citizen, because I felt very strongly that this language would discourage other people like myself who fell in love with the city and want to do everything we can for this city.”
With the restrictive charter language lifted, Local 2021 members are hopeful that they can help elect more supportive politicians.
“Now that Prop D is passed, the door is open,” said Gregory. “There’s now an opportunity to put in the extra effort and get certain politicians on our side. If the workers of the city are of high morale and want to give good services … it's a benefit to everyone in the city as well.”