The Mayor shall serve for a term of two (2) years, and each Councilmember shall serve for a term of four (4) years, and until their successors are elected or qualified, unless sooner removed from office as herein provided. Initial terms for Councilmembers from Districts 1, 3 and 5 shall be two (2) years, commencing in 1984, and four (4) years thereafter.
(Amended 12/10/1925; 11/7/1961; 5/7/1988)
Vacancies in the Council shall be filled by a special election for the remainder of the unexpired term, as provided by this Charter or by ordinance.
The Mayor and each Councilmember shall be a resident citizen of the City of Lubbock and have the qualifications of electors therein. The Mayor and all Councilmembers shall be bona fide residents within the City and within the applicable District at the time of filing for office and must continue to reside within the City and the applicable District during the term of office. The Mayor, Councilmen, and other officers and employees shall not be indebted to the City; shall not hold any public office of emolument and shall not be interested in the profits or emoluments of any contract, job, work or service for the municipality or interested in the sale to the City of any supplies, equipment, material or articles purchased; nor shall any member of the City Council or the Electric Utility Board have a substantial interest in any public utility operating within the City of Lubbock, nor be in the employ of any person having a substantial interest in any public utility operating within the City of Lubbock. Substantial interest shall mean substantial interest as defined by the laws of the State of Texas regulating conflicts of interest of officers of municipalities. Any officer or employee of the City who shall cease to possess any of the qualifications herein required shall forfeit his office or position, and any contract in which any officer or employee shall or may become interested may be declared void by the Council. No officer or employee of the City shall accept any frank, free ticket, passes, or service, or anything of value, directly or indirectly from any person, firm or corporation, upon terms more favorable than are granted to the public, and any violations of this section shall be a misdemeanor, and on conviction thereof, such office or employment shall be forfeited.
Free admission of uniformed police and firemen. The Council may require, however, by ordinance, all streetcar companies operating within the City limits to provide free transportation to policemen and firemen in uniform, or wearing a badge, and may require all proprietors of theatres, moving picture shows and other places of public amusement to admit without charge all policemen, in the employ of the City.
(Amended 5/7/1988)
The Councilmembers other than the Mayor shall be elected from geographical districts and shall be designated Councilmember, Districts 1 through 6, each of whom shall be elected to the office sought by a majority of the qualified voters of the appropriate District; and the City Council shall be the judge of the election and qualifications of its members. Councilmember Districts shall contain such City Voting Precincts as are assigned to such Districts by ordinance enacted by the City Council.
Candidates; official ballot; filing fee; petition. Each candidate for City elective office shall request in writing to have his or her name placed upon the official ballot, which request shall be filed along with the appropriate filing fee or a Petition for Candidacy in accordance with the State Election Code with the person exercising the duties of City Secretary at least forty-five (45) days before the upcoming election, unless another filing period is specified by the State Election Code. Candidates for Councilmember shall indicate upon their written request in which district they are seeking election. The filing fee shall be one hundred dollars ($100.00) for all positions or a petition for candidacy in lieu of a filing fee which shall be signed by not less than twenty-five (25) qualified voters in the applicable district or one-half of one percent of the total vote received in the district from which the office is elected by all candidates for mayor in the most recent mayoral election whichever is greater. The district of the Mayor and Municipal Judge, for the purpose of this section, shall be the City at large.
(Amended 11/7/1961; 5/7/1988)
The Council shall, on the next regular meeting day of said Council, and in any event not earlier than the second or later than the sixth day after each regular and special election, canvass the returns and declare the result of each election.
(Amended 5/7/1988)
At every regular election and every special election called to fill one or more vacant elective offices, election to each office shall be by a majority of the votes cast for such office at such election. Where in any election for elective office no candidate receives a majority of all the votes cast for such office at such election, the City Council shall, immediately upon declaring the official results of the election, issue a call for a run-off election for every place to which no one was elected. Such run-off election shall be held not earlier than the 20th day or later than the 30th day after the date of the canvass of election returns for the main election, except that following the regular municipal election in May the run-off election shall be held on the last Saturday in May, unless another day is stated in the order calling the run-off election, and in such run-off election the two candidates who received in the preceding election the highest number of votes for each place to which no one was elected shall be voted on again and the candidate who receives the majority of the votes cast for such place in the run-off election shall be declared elected to such office. The Council shall on the next regular meeting day of said Council and in any event not earlier than the second day or later than the sixth day after said run-off election canvass returns and declare the results of such election.
(Added 1/7/1964; amended 5/7/1988)
The regular municipal election for the election of municipal officers of the City of Lubbock shall be held on the first Saturday of May of every even numbered year or in accordance with the applicable provisions of the State Election Code.
(Amended 5/7/1988)
All elections provided for in this Charter except the regular election held in April of even numbered years, shall be called “Special Elections,” and all elections shall be conducted and results canvassed and announced by the authorities as prescribed in the general election laws of the State of Texas, and said General Election Laws shall control in all municipal elections, except as otherwise herein provided and as provided by Article 978a, V.A.T.S.
(Amended 1/24/1967)
The City Council shall appoint the City Secretary, the City Treasurer, and the City Attorney, upon recommendation of the City Manager and may remove either of said officers upon the recommendation of the City Manager or at will.
(Amended 5/7/1988)
The Mayor of the City shall be the presiding officer of the Council. He shall vote as a member of the Council on all matters coming before the body; sign all bonds, warrants and other official documents; be the official head of the City; and exercise all powers and perform all duties imposed upon him by this Charter and by the ordinances of the City, and resolutions of the Council.
Emergency powers of Mayor. Whenever the Mayor shall deem it necessary, in order to enforce the laws of the State or of the City, or to avert danger, or protect life or property in case of riot or any outbreak or calamity or public disturbance, or when he has reason to fear any serious violation of law or order or any other danger to the City or its inhabitants, he shall summon into service, as a general police force, all or as many of the citizens of the City as in his judgment and discretion may be necessary and proper, and such summons may be by proclamation or order addressed to the citizens generally, or those of any section or subdivision of the City, such summons may be by personal notice, citation or publication in a City paper; such police force, while in service, shall be subject to the orders of the Mayor, shall perform such duties as he may require, and shall have the same power while on duty as the regular police force of the City, and any person so summoned and failing to obey, or appearing and failing to perform any duty that may be required by this article, shall be fined by the Mayor in any sum not exceeding One Hundred Dollars ($100.00).
Contempt powers of Mayor. The Mayor shall have power to punish for contempt of the Council any member thereof or other person present by fine not to exceed One Hundred Dollars ($100.00), and may enforce such fine in the same manner provided by law for the enforcing of fines by the County Courts of this State.
The members of the City Council shall elect a Mayor pro tempore from among its members and such election shall be held at the first regular meeting of the City Council after newly elected members have qualified and taken their seats on the City Council following a regular municipal election. In the absence or disqualification of the Mayor and the Mayor pro tempore, then the position of Mayor pro tempore shall be occupied by the Councilmember having the most seniority in service on the City Council.
(Amended 5/7/1988)
Within five days after such election, the Mayor and Councilmen elected thereat shall each take the oath of office and qualify as such, and shall hold their respective offices until their successors are elected and qualified unless sooner removed from office under the provisions of this Charter.
Meetings; when; where. Thereafter, the Council shall meet at such time as may be prescribed by ordinance or resolution, but they shall meet at least twice each month.
Called special meetings; time; order of business. The Mayor, Mayor Pro Tem, or any two of the Councilmen in the absence of the Mayor and Mayor Pro Tem, or in the event of their refusal after request is made, may call special meetings of the Council at any time deemed advisable. The Council shall determine its own rules and order of business and shall keep a journal of its proceedings in a permanently bound book and any citizen shall have access to the minutes and records thereof at all reasonable times.
The compensation of the Mayor shall not exceed $900.00 (Nine Hundred) per annum and the compensation of each Councilman shall not exceed $300.00 (Three Hundred) per annum, payable in monthly installments; provided however, that the Mayor and any Councilman shall forfeit not exceeding $10.00 per meeting of his salary if absent from any regular meeting of the Council unless such absence from the meeting is unavoidably necessitated in the services of such officer on business of the City away from the City at the time the meeting is held.
(Amended 12/10/1925)
Any four (4) Councilmembers shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of any business, and the affirmative vote of any four (4) Councilmembers shall be sufficient and necessary to adopt or repeal any ordinance or resolution. The vote upon passage or repeal of any ordinance or resolution shall be taken by “Yea” and “Nay” vote, and entered upon the journal. All members of the Council shall vote upon every question, ordinance or resolution, provided that not more than one (1) Councilmember may be excused from voting by a vote of the other six (6) members, which shall be entered upon the journal. Any Councilmember refusing to vote unless so excused shall be entered on the journal as voting in the affirmative.
Mayor to sign; secretary to attest; Ordinances, etc. Every ordinance or resolution passed by the Council shall be signed by the Mayor, and attested by the person acting as City Secretary, and the seal of the City impressed thereon within two days after its passage.
(Amended 5/7/1988)
Each proposed ordinance or resolution shall be introduced in written or printed form, shall not contain more than one subject, which shall be clearly stated in the title, but general appropriation ordinances may contain the various subjects and accounts for which monies are to be appropriated. No ordinance, unless it shall be declared to be an emergency measure, and passed by a unanimous vote of the Council, shall be passed on the day on which it shall be introduced.
An emergency measure is an ordinance or resolution for the immediate preservation of the public peace, property, health, or safety, or providing for the usual daily operation of a municipal department, in which the emergency is set forth and defined in a preamble thereto. Ordinances appropriating money not exceeding $2,000.00 and ordinances for the payment of salaries and wages, may be passed as emergency measures, but no measure making a grant, renewal or extension of a franchise, or other special privilege, or regulating the rate to be charged for its services by any public utility, shall ever be passed as an emergency measure.
(Amended 11/7/1961)
All ordinances carrying a penalty shall be published once a week for two consecutive weeks in some newspaper regularly published in the City of Lubbock, and no such ordinance shall become effective until ten (10) days after the date of its last publication, provided that emergency measures shall take effect according to their terms.
Every ordinance, or resolution, upon its becoming effective, shall be recorded in a permanently bound book kept for that purpose and shall be authenticated by the signature of the Mayor or presiding member of the Council, and the person exercising the duties of City Secretary.
The Council may investigate the financial transactions of any officer or department of the City government and the acts and conduct of any official or employee. In conducting such investigation, the Council may compel the attendance of witnesses, the production of books and papers, and other evidence, and for that purpose may issue subpoenas or attachments on which shall be signed by the Mayor–if the Mayor should be under investigation, then by the Mayor Pro Tem–or in the absence of both the Mayor and Mayor Pro Tem, then by the Councilman next in order according to his numerical standing, and which may be executed and served by any officer authorized by law to serve subpoenas or other process, or any peace officer of the City. If any witness shall refuse to appear or to testify to any facts within his knowledge, or to produce any papers or books in his possession or under his control, relating to the matter under investigation before the Council, the Council shall have the power to cause the witness to be punished as for contempt, not to exceed a fine of One Hundred Dollars ($100.00) and three days confinement in the City prison. No witness shall be excused from testifying, touching his knowledge of the matter under investigation in any such inquiry, but such testimony shall not be used against him in any criminal prosecution except for perjury committed upon such inquiry.
No contract shall ever be made which binds the City to pay for personal services to be rendered for any stated period of time, but all officers and employees of the City, other than the Mayor and Councilmen, shall be appointed and shall be subject to peremptory discharge as in this Charter provided.
The City Council shall create and consolidate such appointive offices as [and] may divide the administration of the City affairs into such departments, as it may deem advisable, and may discontinue any such appointive officers or departments at its discretion, except the office of City Manager.
(Amended 11/7/1961)
The Council shall fix and determine the salaries and wages of all appointive officers and employees of the City, unless otherwise provided in this Charter, and shall provide for the payment thereof, provided however, that when any payroll of the City of Lubbock has been certified by the City Auditor to be correct and approved by the City Manager and moneys necessary to pay such payrolls have been transferred to the PAYROLL ACCOUNT by check or warrant signed by the Mayor and attested by the City Secretary, then such funds shall be disbursed according to such approved payrolls by checks signed by the Mayor or Mayor Pro Tem or City Manager and countersigned by the City Treasurer.
(Amended 4/6/1948)
No warrant, voucher or check for the payment of any claim shall be issued by the City, unless such claim shall be evidenced by an itemized account, filed with the City Secretary, approved by the City Manager, and sworn to if required by such City Manager or the City Council. No time warrants shall be allowed or issued by the Council in excess of the amount now or which may hereafter be permitted by law governing and pertaining to issuance of time warrants by Municipal Corporations; and further provided, that all warrants shall be signed by the Mayor and countersigned by the City Secretary.
(Amended 4/1/1930; 1/7/1964)
Accounting procedure shall be devised and maintained for the City, adequate to record in detail all transactions affecting the acquisition, custodianship and disposition of anything of value, including cash receipts, credit transactions and disbursements; and the recorded facts shall be presented periodically to officials and to the public in such summaries and analytical schedules in detailed support thereof as shall be necessary to show the full effect of such transactions for each fiscal year upon the finances of the City and in relation to each department of the City government, including distinct summaries and schedules for each public utility owned and operated.
The City Council shall cause an audit of the books, records and accounts, as well as all transactions pertaining to the administration of the affairs of the City, at least once each year, embracing each fiscal year, by a competent certified public accountant. The duty of the public accountant shall include the certification of all statements required in Section 25 of this article; such statements shall include a general balance sheet; and statements, showing income and expenditures, also comparisons, in proper classifications, with the last previous audit; such balance sheet and statements shall be published in some newspaper regularly published in the City of Lubbock at the time within 10 days after the completion and acceptance of the audit at least once each year.
(Amended 4/1/1930)
All contracts for public printing, improvements and public works of every kind and character, and the purchase of supplies for use in any department of the City, exceeding an expenditure of the minimum dollar amount requiring competitive bids by State law shall be let on sealed competitive bids, all other contracts of similar kind and character for less than the minimum dollar amount requiring competitive bids by State law shall be let on such terms and conditions as may be established by the City Council of the City of Lubbock.
(Amended 11/7/1961; 5/7/1988)
No person related within the second degree by affinity, or within the third degree of consanguinity, to the Mayor or to either of the Councilmen, shall be appointed to any office, position, clerkship or service of the City.
The Mayor shall give an official bond in the sum of Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000.00) and each councilman shall give an official bond in the sum of Twenty-Five Hundred Dollars ($2,500.00) and the person exercising the duties of City Secretary and City Manager, shall give official bonds in any sum, not less than Twenty-Five Thousand Dollars ($25,000.00), as the City Council from time to time shall prescribe. All bonds referred to in this Charter shall, in each instance, be conditioned for the faithful discharge of the duties of such officer or employee for the faithful accounting of all moneys and things of value coming into the hands of such officer or employee. All such bonds shall be procured from some regularly accredited surety company authorized to do business under the laws of the State of Texas, the premium therefor shall be paid by the City of Lubbock provided that the Council may require an official bond from any other appointive officer or employee of the City in such amount and condition as they deem best for the efficiency of public service. All official bonds shall be approved by the Council, and filed and recorded with the person exercising the duties of City Secretary.
Editor’s note–Former section 29, which pertained to hours of labor upon public works, was repealed on 5/7/1988, and sections 30 and 31 were renumbered as sections 29 and 30, respectively.
(Amended 12/1/1919; 11/7/1961; 5/7/1988)
Every officer of the City shall, before entering upon the duties of his office, take and subscribe to the oath prescribed by the Constitution of the State of Texas for county officials.
(Amended 5/7/1988)