WORCESTER— The Worcester City Council voted to approve City Manager Eric Batista’s new contract on Tuesday night, by a vote of 9-2.
The three-year deal with increase his base salary from $275,000 to $293,868, with further increases reaching $314,080 by July 2026.
The contract changes also doubles his severance period from six to 12 months and replaces his city vehicle benefit with a $1,500 monthly stipend.
A provision requires Batista’s salary to exceed that of the next highest-paid city official by $10,000, which is currently Worcester Public School Superintendent Rachel Monárrez, who earned $268,754 in 2023.
After the executive session, which lasted for more than an hour, councilors offered their thoughts on the city manager’s new three-year contract.
Councilor Khrystian King clarified that during the executive session, council members removed some items and “struck the language,” such as the requirement of paying $10,000 above the next highest paid city employee.
Councilor Morris Bergman emphasized that while it’s important that the contract is fair, it should also be equitable and in line with other city managers.
“The city manager is responsible for almost $1 billion budget,” he said. “Taking nothing away from the superintendent, those responsibilities are half of that. Money’s not everything, but salary has to be part of the consideration, and I do think the city manager is deserving of a higher salary than the superintendent.”
Councilor Candy Mero-Carlson also spoke in support of the new contract.
“We’re going into a new three-year term and I certainly support the items as you read them this evening,” Mero-Carlson said. “I look forward to the next three years working with our city manager.”
Meanwhile, Councilor-at-Large Thu Nguyen voted against the contract.
“On principle, I’ll be voting ‘no’ on this and it has nothing to do against the city manager,” Nguyen said. “But I don’t believe we should be calculating our city manager’s salary based off making more than the superintendent.”
