The electors shall have the power to propose any ordinance except
an ordinance appropriating money or authorizing the levy of taxes,
and to adopt or reject the same at the polls, such power being known
as the initiative. Any initiative ordinance may be submitted to the
council by a petition signed by a majority of the then qualified electors
of the city.
(Ordinance 22-934 adopted 5/26/22)
The electors shall have the power to approve or reject at the polls any ordinance passed by the council or submitted by the council to a vote of the electors, except as provided in Article
IV, Section 2 such power being known as the referendum. Ordinances submitted to the council by initiative petition and passed by the council without change shall be subject to the referendum in the same manner as the other ordinances. Within twenty (20) days after the enactment by the council of any ordinance which is subject to a referendum, a petition signed by a majority of the then qualified electors of the city requesting that any such ordinance be either repealed or approved shall be submitted to a vote of the electors.
(Ordinance 22-934 adopted 5/26/22)
Initiative petition papers shall contain the full text of the
proposed ordinance. The signatures to initiative or referendum petitions
need not all be appended to one paper. Each signer of any petition
paper shall sign their name in ink or indelible pencil and shall indicate
after their name their place of residence by street and number, or
other description sufficient to identify the place.
(Ordinance 22-934 adopted 5/26/22)
All petition papers comprising an initiative or referendum petition
shall be filed with the city secretary. Within twenty (20) days after
a petition is filed, the city secretary shall determine whether the
petition is signed by a sufficient number of qualified electors, and
certify the result thereof to the city council at its next regular
meeting. Upon such certification, the ordinance specified in a referendum
petition shall not go into effect unless approved by the electors
as hereinafter provided.
(Ordinance 22-934 adopted 5/26/22)
When the council receives a certified initiative or referendum
petition, it shall proceed at once to consider such petition and take
final action thereon not later than sixty (60) days thereafter. If
the council fails to pass the ordinance proposed by the initiative
petition, or if the council fails to repeal the ordinance specified
in the referendum petition, then a proposed or a referred ordinance
shall be submitted to the qualified electors of the city at the next
uniform election date. Ordinances submitted to a vote in accordance
with the initiative and referendum provisions of this Charter shall
contain the following propositions: “For the ordinance”;
and “Against the ordinance.” Said proposition shall be
adopted by a majority vote of the electors voting thereon.
(Ordinance 22-934 adopted 5/26/22)
(1) The mayor
or any member of the city council may be removed from office by recall.
Any elector of the city shall make and file with the city secretary
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 city secretary shall thereupon deliver an adequate number of blank
copies of the recall petition for use in demanding such removal. The
recall petition must be returned and filed with the city secretary
within thirty (30) days after the filing of the aforementioned affidavit,
and it must be signed by a majority of the then qualified voters of
the city.
(2) No recall
petition shall be filed against the mayor or any city councilperson
within six months after the officer takes office or more often than
once every six months thereafter.
(3) Should the
city council fail or refuse to order any election provided in this
article, then it shall be the duty of any district judge of Harris
County, Texas, upon proper application being made, to order such elections
and to enforce the carrying into effect of the provisions of this
article.
(Ordinance 22-934 adopted 5/26/22)
The city secretary shall at once examine the recall petition
and if it is found to be sufficient and in compliance with provisions
of this Charter, the city secretary shall within five days submit
it to the city council with a certificate to that effect and notify
the officer or officers sought to be recalled of such action. If each
officer whose removal is sought does not resign within five days after
such notice, the city council shall thereupon order and fix a date
for holding a recall election to be held not less than twenty (20)
nor more than thirty (30) days after the petition was presented to
the city council. The ballots used at such recall elections shall
contain the following questions:
“Shall (name of person) be removed from office (name of
office) by recall?”
Immediately following such question there shall be printed the
following propositions:
“For the recall of (name of person)”; and
“Against the recall of (name of person).”
If a majority of the votes cast at such recall election are
against the recall of the officer, the officer shall continue in office.
If a majority of the votes at such election are for the recall of
the officer, the officer shall be deemed removed from office and the
vacancy filled by the city council as in other vacancies.
(Ordinance 22-934 adopted 5/26/22)