Was it always that much or did they switch to a city manager style government since Cisneros was mayor?
It has been a city mgr. govt. since the fifties, maybe before. As far as salary goes it has never been a lot. It certainly has never been more.
The Idea is we really don't want a 7 day a week Mayor or City Council. Along the line of the job expands to fill the available time. If we only pay them for meetings, they will not hang around city hall, causing trouble, and finding vote buying schemes.
Now the city manager is paid beauceaux bucks. The one they just hired is 300k per annum.