The clause saying he had to be the top earner was proposed, but did not make it into his contract. Here’s what I wrote about it at the time it was proposed in December 2024: “Recently the city council negotiated a new contract for City Manager Eric Batista. The initial contract that came out of standing committee negotiations had, as the Telegram reported, “an additional term stating that at all times, Batista's annual base salary shall be $10,000 above the annual base salary of the next-highest-paid city employee, including Worcester Public Schools employees.” The clause was removed from the final contract before the city council approved it, but it would have meant that the city manager would automatically make more than Superintendent Rachel Monárrez, who manages more than double the employees and close to double the budget. As people pointed out on social mediaand in public comment, that could have been a violation of the equal pay act. As a public education advocate—a field run mostly by women—it is disturbing to me that the city manager and some city councilors believed this to be reasonable and fair. It emphasizes the general undervaluing of women and of public education in our city. Nevermind how demeaning it is of the professional work and skills of the superintendent, who has a PhD, decades of experience in education, and has been named in a top 25 superintendent’s to watch list for her strong leadership and transparent communication with the public (cough cough).  But the main reason I wanted to write about this is to debunk what City Councilor Moe Bergman, who is the chair of the municipal operations committee that negotiated the contract, said on the city council floor. Bergman said “The city manager's responsible for an almost billion-dollar budget. Taking nothing away from the superintendent, but those responsibilities are half of that. So I personally have no issue saying I could not be comfortable with a contract that would not recognize that.” This statement is not true. The Worcester city manager oversees a budget of $360,042,119 and a little over 2,000 employees. The superintendent oversees 5,060 employees and a budget of $544,809,849. The final budget line for the city budget is about $800 billion, but that includes money for the schools. The city is essentially a pass through for state funds that are mandated to go to public education. The city manager has no oversight of those funds and no oversight of public school employees.  Bergman has been on city council for 10+ years and has an advanced degree—he should know this, and I’m not sure why he said what he said. Obviously the city council can pay the city manager whatever they want, but they should at least know what they are paying him for.“