Greedy Bastards: One City’s Texas-Size Struggle to Avoid a Financial Crisis

As a San Antonio transplant in 2001 - I saw the horrible ads and an felt frankly they were just very Bullying and negative about Sheryl Scully.When I saw her book come out and read the title Greedy Bastards. I was skeptical and hesitate to purchase and read it. I am extremely happy I did. The title while now I understand the meaning behind it — initially I am embarrassed to admit I thought it was a book about her bashing San Antonio.It is ABSOLUTELY NOT THAT. This book is VERY eye opening and refreshing to see a woman in an place of great responsibility work her ass of to help a city who many times allowed her to be dragged thru the mud. A woman who did this with integrity and respectability- head held high and continually trudged forward with pride.I know that at the time the ads ran I was a mother of small children and remember watching those god awful ads / commercial CONSTANTLY running on TV. Not running like twice a day but every commercial in the morning and at night .Thinking what the hell its a total trash & smear campaign -worst than the Presidential ads. It was ridiculous - I had no idea the extent of the harassment or the dirty details of the legal fees paid by the city for the police and fire. I knew what got the most press and that the propaganda that was sold was all about the insurance - Never heard about all the other less talked about yet extremely important issues where sticking points.I also know in 2019 my property taxes went up 10% and even in the middle of a 2020 pandemic were raised AGAIN another 10%.I highly recommend reading this book it’s only a couple hundred pages longWell worth the read and very enlightening!!

No question about it, Sheryl Sculley did an amazing job in San Antonio. In light of recent protests concerning police brutality, it’s telling that even Sculley’s extensive talent and expertise could not manage to assert some accountability over bad police in police union negotiations. It’s the cities that are paying for police crimes and their citizens who are paying for it - to the tune of millions of dollars every year. With deregulation in the 1980’s came a void where accountability should be. Accountability needs to be applied to doctors because bad doctors are the main cause of medical errors which have become the third leading cause of death in America, veterinarians because bad veterinarians are not held accountable for their negligence or malpractice and they are the number one cause of companion animal deaths (the most dangerous thing you do with your pet is take them to a veterinarian), and police, whose bad actors are not only killing and harming innocent people, but costing cities and their citizens far more than declining budgets can handle, as this brave woman, Sculley, so brilliantly points out in her book. Sculley shines a light on how police unions try to control cities using some very unsavory tactics. Very informative. Greedy Bastards was a quick and interesting read and worth every minute.

Wow! Complete transparency about the state of affairs for the City of San Antonio from 1998 - 2019. Sheryl did such a wonderful job of “professionalizing” the way that San Antonio is managed. This book is her playbook and she shares her successes and her failures. You get a great sense of how much strategic planning the City Manager has to do in order to accomplish big goals when subject to the whims of local politics and new council members. This book is a must read for all San Antonio residents and anyone that would like to provide wise counsel to cities and municipalities on how to better manage their resources. There are plenty of examples of clear power abuses that are discussed openly in the book, such as Chris Steele’s (firefighter union rep) ex-wife staying on his health insurance...

I read it because I love where Sheryl Sculley brought San Antonio. I moved here in 96 and the improvements are exactly what I was hoping for; more parks & fitness, less strays, modernization, all while keeping it a great place to raise a family.But I finished it in several hours because it’s a juicy read about all she endured to save us from higher taxes and continued fraud that we didn’t even see. She’s witty and concise. (My two favorite traits in an author.)I recommend every San Antonio taxpayer read this book. (We need a strategic city manager to have our best interests in mind.) I also recommend it to anyone who wants to improve their leadership skills.

This well crafted book is symbolic of the insightful, courageous, and creative leadership Sheryl Sculley exhibited while City Manager of San Antonio.The City of San Antonio was fortunate to persuade Sculley to come here. This book clearly documents the clear headed thinking and vision that were required to restructure this town on a solid foundation. The City of San Antonio likewise is fortunate that other clear head and clear visioned personnel were willing to team up with Sculley to accomplish the herculean changes needed.San Antonio is a blessed city because of this City Manager and her management team.

This is a very well written book. It came yesterday and I have completed reading it in 2 days because it is so interesting! Even though I am not a present San Antonio resident, I was born and raised there and live a county over. I followed much of the craziness that went on and always felt Sheryl Sculley was working for the good of the city. After reading her book, I am even more sure of this. Thanks to Sheryl Sculley and her whole department for looking after the people of San Antonio.

For the last several years I read all the articles and watched all the news clips. During that time Sheryl Sculley did a great job of keeping her cool and playing by the rules. Now we all get to hear her side of the story. This book is full of amazing stories, shocking insights, and is a roadmap for the many cities across the country that have to fight these kinds of complicated battles. She is a true leader and this book will be studied for years to come.