Will San Benito city manager receive another raise?

SAN BENITO — City Manager Manuel De La Rosa’s job performance is up for review.

Today, city commissioners are expected to meet in closed session to conduct De La Rosa’s semi-annual evaluation, according to the meeting’s agenda.

Under his contract, an “above-satisfactory” job performance could come with a $5,000 pay increase.

“I see the evaluation as mutually beneficial to myself as well as the city,” De La Rosa stated yesterday afternoon in a press release.

“Evaluations provide an opportunity to discuss the established goals and objectives given to me by the commission. It affords us the chance to determine if I am on the track they want me to be on.”

It appears commissioners have not evaluated him this year.

De La Rosa said he has requested commissioners previously evaluate him three times but they chose not to undertake the process.

“They needed to establish the criteria that they want to rate me on,” De La Rosa stated. “I believe the mayor said shortly after the election that he had not been here long enough to complete an evaluation of me. He said he wanted an opportunity to see how I performed.”

After he won election in May, Mayor Ben Gomez said De La Rosa was doing “pretty good in his job.”

Meanwhile, Commissioner Rene Villafranco has said De La Rosa has “done an excellent job.”

But Commissioner Esteban Rodriguez said he would not give De La Rosa a pay increase.

“I think right now we got to hold off on giving any raises,” Rodriguez said yesterday. “He’s told us he’s done a lot but it’s a job he’s paid to do. I don’t see him going beyond his duties.”

De La Rosa was hired at a salary of $95,000 in December 2015.

Under his contract, which runs through Jan. 31, 2020, commissioners are required to conduct six-month evaluations which could come with $5,000 pay increases upon “above-satisfactory” job performance ratings.

Now, De La Rosa’s salary stands at $110,000, city spokeswoman Martha McClain stated.

Rodriguez also questioned De La Rosa’s residency.

The City Charter requires the city manager “to become a resident of the city as soon as practical following appointment as agreed by the city commission.”

While De La Rosa lives with his son in an apartment off Paso Real, on weekends he drives to visit his wife in Austin, where she works.

Rodriguez said De La Rosa drives to Austin on Friday afternoons and returns Sundays.

“I think you’ve got to be vested in the community to make it look like he’s going to stick around,” Rodriguez said. “If you don’t get involved in the community, to me that’s not investing yourself in the community.”

Rodriguez said he is concerned De La Rosa may not be available to address problems during weekends.

“I would feel more comfortable with him living here and being here during weekends in case things go wrong,” Rodriguez said. “You can only do so many things by phone.”