Texas City Charter Amendments - PowerPoint Presentation

Texas City Charter AmendmentsNovember 5, 2019 Election Presented by Bob Senter Charter Review Committee Chair

Charter Review Committee: Aric Owens Jose Boix Dedrick Johnson Lupe Cantu Carlos Garza Thelma Bowie Jenny Senter Frank Mistretta Tracy Tarpey Denise O’Brien Brian Clark Mark Ciavaglia Bob Senter – Chair Don Edmonds – Consultant Phil Roberts – Non-Voting, City Commission Liaison

What is a City Charter? It is the outline of how the City Government is to govern and operate; it can only be changed by a majority of those qualified voters voting in an election specifically stating the changes of the City Charter.

What is a City Charter Amendment Election? It is a Special Election to consider revisions or changes to the City Charter?

How were the City Charter Amendments selected? A City Charter Review Committee of twelve individuals with an expert consultant, reviewed the entire City Charter. The City Charter Review Committee met in posted meetings open to the public between December 10, 2018 and March 25, 2019. The City Charter Review Committee recommended precisely worded amendments to the City Commission. The City Commission reviewed the changes and discussed the items with the Chair of the City Charter Review Committee in a Public Meeting on April 17. The City Commission then considered revisions, additions, or deletions to the recommendations and chose to accept as presented all recommended amendments, and added one more.

Charter Revisions Results Clarified the mayor is the Chief Executive Officer for all operations of the City. PROPOSITION C   Shall Article III, Section 2 of the City Charter relating to the mayor’s duties be amended to insert the sentence “The mayor shall serve as the chief executive officer of the city.” and to read as follows?   The mayor shall preside at meetings of the commission and shall exercise such other powers and perform such other duties as are or may be conferred and imposed upon him/her by this charter and the ordinances of the city. The mayor shall serve as the chief executive officer of the city. He/she shall be recognized as the head of the city government for all ceremonial purposes, by the courts for serving civil processes, and by the governor for purposes of military law.

Charter revisions results The previous slide clearly states the mayor handles the day to day operations. There is no city manager as many of our neighboring cities. The mayor’s position is more complex, performs duties similar to a full-time city manager, oversees the daily operations, and is directly responsive to the citizens.

Charter revisions results PROPOSITION B   Shall Article II, Section 5 of the City Charter relating to the salaries of the mayor and commissioners be adjusted to read as follows?   The salary of the mayor shall be fixed by the commission not to exceed one thousand, five hundred dollars per month. The salary of each commissioner shall be fixed by the commission not to exceed five hundred dollars per month.

Charter revisions results Pay has not increased since City Charter was originally adopted in 1946 - 73 years ago. Charter Review Committee looked at the responsibilities, surrounding city managers, mayors and city council pay and considered the pay commensurate with the duties and responsibilities. The committee did not feel the pay should be a “salary,” and the main purpose for serving should not be pay, but volunteerism, commitment to Texas City.

Charter revisions results PROPOSITION G   Shall Article IX, Section 1 of the City Charter relating to the city attorney be amended to delete the words “and/or chief executive officer” in subsection 3, to insert subsection (8) and to insert the sentence “Upon recommendation of the city attorney, the commission shall be authorized to employ special counsel to assist the city attorney in important legal matters or to represent the city in any legal matter” in the second to last paragraph?  

Charter revisions results This amendment has the city attorney reporting to the mayor, commission and department director; allows for special counsel to be hired by the City Commission upon recommendation of the City Attorney; and for the City Attorney to review and comment on the status of the City Charter every five (5) years.

Charter revisions results PROPOSITION L Shall the title of Article XIV of the City Charter relating to the planning commission be amended to include “and City Zoning Commission” and to insert Section 2 in this Article.

Charter revisions results Most Cities include both Planning and Zoning Commissions within their Charters. By embedding the Zoning Commission into the Charter, it cannot be easily removed without a vote of the Electorate. The City already has Zoning and a Zoning Commission, this merely moves it from an ordinance that can be changed by the City Commission to a Charter section requiring the Electorate to vote to remove or amend.

Charter revisions results PROPOSITION R Shall Article III, Section 3 of the City Charter relating to the City Secretary be amended to require the chief executive officer to appoint the city secretary

Charter revisions results This proposition provides a more modern statement of oversight that is in line with current practice.

Charter revisions results There are a total of 18 amendments on the ballot. We have only discussed 5 that the Committee feel are the most substantive. Please review all 18. All are important. Most of the remaining have more to do about conforming to State Law, staying up with current statutes, and being aligned with State Laws to avoid confusion. At the end of the presentation we will have more details on where you can obtain more information on all of the proposed propositions.

What was not Recommended The following was discussed at length, but not recommended to be included as propositions: City Manager Form of Government Plurality versus Majority elections At – Large/Single member districts make-up Term Limits Length of Terms (2 years versus 3 or 4 years)

Election Dates and Times: Election Day Tuesday, November 5 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Early Voting Monday, October 21 to Friday, November 1 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Weekend Voting October 26 & 27 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Voting Locations: CONSTITUTIONAL ELECTION DAY LOCATIONS NOVEMBER 5, 2019 Carver Park Community Center - 6415 Park Ave TC Calvary Baptist Church - 517 18th Ave. N TC Nessler Center 2010 5th Ave. N TC Joe Faggard Com. Cen. - 1750 Highway 87 CB Galveston County Courthouse - 722 Moody GISD Administration Bldg. - 3904 Avenue T Gal MUD 12 Building - 2929 Hwy. 6 BV Bacliff Community Center 4503 11th St Bac Kemah Community Center 800 Harris Kem Creekside Intermediate 4320 W. Main St. LC Friendswood City Hall 910 S. Friendswood Dr. Fr Rebecca Sealy Hospital 404 8th St. ( 1st floor) Gal Moody Methodist Church 2803 53rd St. Gal Greater St. Matthews Baptist Church 6333 Highway 6 SF La Marque Community Room 1109 B Bayou Rd. LM West County Building 11730 Highway 6 SF Dickinson Community Center  2714 Highway 3 Di The Crossings 255 N. Egret Bay Blvd. LC North County Annex 174 Calder Rd. LC Seaside Baptist Church  16534 Termini-San Luis Pass Rd. JB

Voting Locations EARLY VOTING BRANCH LOCATIONS NOVEMBER 5, 2019 Carver Park Community Center - 6415 Park Ave TC Nessler Center 2010 5th Ave. N TC Galveston County Courthouse - 722 Moody St. Gal GISD Administration Bldg. - 3904 Avenue T Bacliff Community Center 4503 11th St Bac Kemah Community Center 800 Harris Kem North County Annex 174 Calder Rd. LC Moody Methodist Church 2803 53rd St. Gal Joe Faggard Com. Center - 1750 Highway 87 CB MUD 12 Building - 2929 Hwy. 6 BV West County Building 11730 Highway 6 SF Dickinson Com. Center  2714 Highway 3 Dic The Crossings 255 N. Egret Bay Blvd. LC Friendswood City Hall 910 S. Friendswood Dr. Fr Seaside Bapt. Church16534 Termini-San Luis Pass Rd. JB Greater St. Matthews Baptist Church 6333 Highway 6 SF