The electors shall have the power to propose any ordinance or to repeal any ordinance except an ordinance appropriating money, authorizing the levy of taxes, making the annual tax levy, or an ordinance authorizing the issuance of bonds which have been authorized by a vote of the people.
(Amended 4/5/1986)
Any proposed ordinance may be submitted to the City Council in the form in which the petitioner desires the same to be passed, by a petition filed with the City Clerk in the following manner:
1. 
Any elector shall make application to the City Clerk and file an intention to circulate a petition giving the date and the proposed ordinance to be circulated. Unless the final petition, with the required number of signatures, is returned within sixty (60) days, it shall not be received for any purpose. For the purpose of this section only, if the 60th day falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday, the final petition, with the required number of signatures, must be received the next business day by 5:00 p.m.
2. 
The petition must contain the names of a number of qualified voters in the City of Beaumont equal to five percent (5%) of the qualified voters of the City of Beaumont as appears on the latest available county voter registration list, as of the date of the last general municipal election.
3. 
To be valid, a petition submitted for the purpose of complying with this section must:
(a) 
contain signatures that comply with requirements prescribed by the Texas Election Code and any other applicable requirements prescribed by law;
(b) 
contain on each page the text of the proposed ordinance to be circulated; and
(c) 
contain on each page the name of the person circulating the petition. The person circulating the petition must be an elector of the City.
4. 
Every person circulating any page of a petition shall file with the City Clerk a sworn statement containing his or her name, address, voting precinct number, voter registration number and a statement that:
“I circulated the attached ____ (number[s]) pages of this petition. I am an elector of the City of Beaumont and the signers freely signed this petition. ________________ (signature of circulator)
SWORN to this the ____ day of ____________, 20___.
Notary Public”
(Amended 5/2/1998)
Each page comprising the petition shall be assembled and filed with the City Clerk as one instrument. Within ten (10) days after a petition is filed, the City Clerk shall determine whether each page of the petition complies with the requirements of Article XI, Section 2, and whether the petition is sufficient. After completing the examination of the petition, the City Clerk shall certify the result thereof to the City Council at its next regular meeting. If the petition is found by the Clerk to be insufficient, it shall be returned to the person filing same along with a written statement concerning the reasons for the insufficiency. The petition may be amended within ten (10) days after notice of insufficiency. The finding of the insufficiency of a petition shall not prejudice the filing of a new petition for the same purpose.
(Amended 4/5/1986)
Whenever the City Council receives a certified petition from the City Clerk, it shall consider same and shall either (a) pass said ordinance within thirty (30) days after date of City Clerk's certificate of sufficiency to the petition; or (b) submit said proposed ordinance to a vote of the people at the next election date as set by the election code of the State of Texas, which is at least thirty (30) days after the date of the City Clerk's certificate to the Council.
(Amended 4/5/1986)
If a majority of the electors voting on a proposed initiative or referendum ordinance shall vote in favor thereof, such ordinance shall thereupon become a valid and binding ordinance of the City of Beaumont.
(Amended 4/5/1986)
Initiative ordinances adopted by the electors may be amended or repealed as in the case of other ordinances, provided that no such ordinance shall be amended in such manner as to defeat its purpose nor may such ordinance be repealed sooner than six (6) months after its enactment. Ordinances which have been the subject of a successful referendum shall not be re-enacted by the City Council sooner than six (6) months after their repeal by the referendum.
(Amended 4/5/1986)
Editor's note–Former section 7, pertaining to power of referendum, was repealed 4/5/1986.
Editor's note–Former section 8, pertaining to referendum petition; effect, was repealed 4/5/1986.
Editor's note–Former section 9, pertaining to consideration of referendum petition by city council, was repealed 4/5/1986.
Editor's note–Former section 10, pertaining to results of election, was repealed 4/5/1986.
Ordinances submitted to vote of the electors in accordance with the initiative and referendum provisions of this Charter shall be submitted by ballot which shall state the title of the ordinance to be voted on and shall have below the title the following propositions, one above the other in the order indicated:
“For the Ordinance”
“Against the Ordinance”
Any number of ordinances may be voted on at the same election and may be submitted on the same ballot.
The Mayor or any member of the City Council may be removed from office by recall.
Any elector of the City of Beaumont may make and file with the City Clerk an affidavit containing the name or names of the officer or officers whose removal is sought and a statement of the grounds for removal. The Clerk shall thereupon deliver to the elector making such affidavit copies of petition blanks demanding such removal. The Clerk shall keep a sufficient number of such printed petition blanks on hand for distribution. Such blanks when issued by the City Clerk shall bear the signature of that officer and be addressed to the City Council, and shall be numbered, dated, and indicate the name of the person to whom issued. The petition blanks when issued shall also indicate the number of such blanks issued and the name of the officer whose removal is sought. The City Clerk shall enter in a record to be kept in his office the name of the elector to whom the petition blanks were issued and the number issued to said person.
The recall petition, to be effective, must be returned and filed with the City Clerk within thirty (30) days after the filing of the sworn statement required in Article XI, Section 13, and it must be signed by qualified electors of the City of Beaumont equal to at least five percent (5%) of the qualified voters of the City of Beaumont as it appears on the latest available county voter registration list as of the date of the last general municipal election. Said petition shall conform to the provisions of Article XI, Section 2. No petition paper shall be accepted as part of a petition unless it bears the signature of the City Clerk as required in Article XI, Section 13.
(Amended 4/5/1986)
Each page comprising the petition shall be assembled and filed with the City Clerk as one instrument. Within ten (10) days after a petition is filed, the City Clerk shall determine whether each page of the petition complies with the requirements of Article XI, Section 2, and whether the petition is sufficient. After completing the examination of the petition, the City Clerk shall certify the result thereof to the City Council at its next regular meeting, and notify the officer sought to be recalled of such action. If the petition is found by the City Clerk to be insufficient, it shall be returned to the person filing same along with a written statement concerning the reasons for the insufficiency. The petition may be amended within ten (10) days after notice of insufficiency. The finding of the insufficiency of a petition shall not prejudice the filing of a new petition for the same purpose. If the officer whose removal is sought does not resign within five (5) days after notice from the City Clerk of the sufficiency of the recall petition or amended recall petition, the City Council shall thereupon order and fix a date for holding a recall election. Any such election shall be held at the next election date as provided by the Election Code of the State of Texas, which is at least thirty (30) days after the date of the City Clerk’s certificate to the City Council.
(Amended 4/5/1986)
Ballots used at recall elections shall conform to the following requirements:
(a) 
With respect to each person whose removal is sought, the question shall be submitted “Shall [name of person] be removed from the office of [name of office] by recall?”
(b) 
Immediately below each such question there shall be printed the two following propositions, one above the other, in the order indicated:
“For the recall of [name of person]”
Against the recall of [name of person]”
If a majority of the votes cast at a recall election shall be against the recall of the officer named on the ballot, he shall continue in office for the remainder of his unexpired term, subject to recall as before. If a majority of the votes cast at such an election be for the recall of the officer named on the ballot, he shall, regardless of any technical defects in the recall petition, be deemed removed from office and the vacancy shall be filled by the City Council as in other vacancies.
No recall petition shall be filed against the Mayor or a Councilman within six (6) months after he takes office nor in respect to an officer subjected to a recall election and not removed thereby, until at least six (6) months after such election.
Editor's note–Former section 19, pertaining to district judge may order election, was repealed 11/7/2023.