Contract to give San Benito city manager $10,000 raise

Feb. 8—SAN BENITO — City Manager Manuel De La Rosa's high marks on his job performance are landing him a $10,000 pay increase, boosting his salary to $185,000 after seven years at City Hall.

Earlier this week, city commissioners gave De La Rosa a 4.09 score out of a total of 5 points on his annual evaluation, "above-average" marks, officials said.

Based on his three-year contract, the above-average score makes him eligible for the $10,000 pay increase after July 1, David Favila, the city's spokesman, said Wednesday.

"I am honored and humbled to serve the citizens and members of the city commission," De La Rosa stated. "I also wish to thank the city commission for evaluating my performance and for setting expectations on improving the delivery of city services."

De La Rosa's contract runs through July 2024.

Commission majority's support

While City Commissioners Rene Garcia, Rene Villafranco and Carol Lynn Sanchez strongly support De La Rosa, Mayor Rick Guerra and Commissioner Pete Galvan are calling on him to improve his job performance.

"He continues to respond well and make major improvements," Garcia said Wednesday during an interview. "I have to give him credit for many things. When things need to get done, he's there. I'm talking about our street repair program. He inspires other employees to do their best for the city. As far as fiscal responsibility, year-end and year-out, he's very good at maintaining a balanced budget and we do the best we can to provide high-quality service for our citizens."

For years, De La Rosa has also been working to overhaul the city's sewer system to comply with a state order stemming from a series of sewage spills nearly 15 years ago, Garcia said.

As part of a 2012 agreement, city officials are working to comply with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality's order to upgrade sewer lines and lift stations by March or face harsh fines, penalties and costly corrective action.

Call for improvement

Meanwhile, Guerra said he requested De La Rosa improve his working relationships with residents and employees.

"Manny has got certain good qualities and he's lacking in other areas," Guerra said. "He's got good ideas. He's got some qualities he's got to work on — work with the people, that's his job also, with the workers and citizens. He told us he's going to work on it."

During the evaluation, Galvan also requested De La Rosa improve his job performance.

"Any professional should always have room to grow," he said. "There are opportunities there for Mr. De La Rosa."

Galvan indicated members of the commission's majority gave De La Rosa higher marks on his job performance.

"If we have other members of the commisson who believe he's deserving of a 5, that tells me all the needs of the citizens are met," he said, referring to the evaluation's scoring. "There's room for the city to grow. It has progressed in the right direction. I believe we're headed in the right direction."

Villafranco and Sanchez did not respond to requests for comment.

Background

In June 2021, Villafranco, Garcia and Sanchez gave De La Rosa a new three-year contract specifying the city would give him a $10,000 pay increase based on an "above-average" score on his job evaluation during the contract's

third year.

On July 1, De La Rosa's contract enters its third year, Favila said.

In 2021, De La Rosa's contract included a $45,000 pay increase, which boosted his salary to $175,000, based on his acceptance of the city's Economic Development Corporation's chief executive officer's job.

Later that year in October, Rebeca Castillo, who was serving as the EDC's executive director at the time, resumed her duties as the agency's CEO, she has said.

In December 2015, a previous commission hired De La Rosa at a salary of $95,000.

Under a previous commission on which Guerra served, the commission's majority helped De La Rosa survive pushes to fire him.