(a)
Initiative: The qualified and registered voters of the city
shall have power to propose ordinances to the council, except ordinances
appropriating money or levying of taxes, or ordinances repealing ordinances
appropriating money or levying taxes, or applicable to zoning, not
in conflict with this charter, the State Constitution, or the state
laws; and, if the council fails to adopt an ordinance so proposed,
to adopt or reject it at a city election.
(b)
Referendum: The qualified and registered voters of the city
shall have power to require reconsideration by the council of any
adopted ordinance and, if the council fails to repeal an ordinance
so reconsidered, to approve or reject it at a city election, provided
that such power shall not extend to the budget or capital program
or any emergency ordinance or ordinance relating to appropriation
of money or levy of taxes, or to bonds issued pursuant to the authority
of an election or elections theretofore held.
(a)
Filing affidavit, fee and petitioner's committee: Any five
(5) registered and qualified voters of the city may commence initiative
or referendum proceedings by filing with the city secretary a filing
fee of one hundred dollars ($100.00) and an affidavit stating they
will constitute the petitioners' committee and be responsible for
circulating the petition and filing it in proper form, stating their
names and addresses and specifying the addresses to which all notices
to the committee are to be sent, and setting out in full the proposed
initiative ordinance or citing the ordinance sought to be reconsidered.
(b)
City attorney review: Immediately after the affidavit and
fee of one hundred dollars ($100.00) is filed, the city secretary
shall forward the affidavit to the city attorney. The city attorney
shall review the affidavit and advise the petitioners' committee as
to the proper form and language and, with the consent of the petitioners'
committee, may redraft the text of the proposed initiative ordinance
or ordinance sought to be reconsidered as necessary or desirable to
achieve its purposes. The city attorney shall return the affidavit
containing the proposed in its final form to the city secretary within
twenty (20) days from the receipt of same by his or her office unless
the period of time for review by the city attorney is extended with
the consent of the petitioners' committee.
(c)
Issuance of petitions: Promptly after the affidavit of the
petitioners' committee is returned, by the city attorney to the city
secretary, the latter shall issue to the petitioners' committee approved
copies of the appropriate petition blanks in the number requested
by the committee. The city may charge for each copy a reasonable fee
set by the city manager to cover the cost of providing it.
(a)
Number of signatures: Initiative and referendum petitions
must be signed by registered and qualified voters of the city equal
in number to at least twenty-five (25) percent of the number of votes
cast in the last regular municipal election of the city, or two hundred
(200), whichever is greater.
(b)
Form and content: All papers of a petition shall be uniform
in size and style and shall be assembled as one instrument for filing.
Each signature shall be executed in ink or indelible pencil and shall
be followed by his or her place of residence by street and number
or other description sufficient to identify the place. Petitions shall
contain or have attached thereto throughout their circulation the
full text of the ordinance proposed or sought to be reconsidered.
The city may prescribe any other reasonable standards of form and
design for the petition to be circulated for signatures.
(c)
Affidavit of circulator: When filed, each paper of a petition
shall have attached to it an affidavit executed by the circulator,
who must be a member of the petitioners' committee, therein stating
that the circulator personally circulated the paper, the number of
signatures thereon, that all the signatures were affixed in his or
her presence, that he or she believes them to be the genuine signatures
of the persons whose names they purport to be and that each signer
had an opportunity before signing to read the full text of the ordinance
proposed or sought to be reconsidered. No circulator shall receive
compensation in return for circulation of petitions for signatures
and the above affidavit shall also state and confirm that no such
compensation has been received by the circulator.
(d)
Time for filing petitions: Referendum petitions must be filed within thirty (30) days after issuance of the appropriate blanks for reconsideration of any ordinance adopted by the council. Initiative petitions must be filed within thirty (30) days after issuance of the appropriate blanks for the proposal of any ordinance. Additional time as specified in Section 7.04 shall be allowed for amending petitions.
(a)
Certificate of city secretary: Within ten (10) days after
the petition is filed, the person performing the duties of city secretary
shall complete a certificate as to its sufficiency, specifying, if
it is insufficient, the particulars wherein it is defective and shall
immediately upon completion of certification send a copy of the certificate
to each member of the petitioners' committee by certified mail.
(b)
Sufficient petition, final determination: If the petition
is certified sufficient, the person performing the duties of city
secretary shall present the certificate to the council by the next
regular council meeting and the certificate shall be a final determination
as to the sufficiency of the petition.
(c)
Insufficient petition, final determination: If a petition is certified insufficient, and the petitioners' committee does not elect to amend or request council review under subsections (d) and (e) of this section within the time required, the city secretary shall present a certificate to the council by the next regular council meeting which shall be a final determination of the insufficiency of the petition.
(d)
Insufficient petition, appeal: If a petition has been certified insufficient and the petitioners' committee does not file notice of intention to amend it as in Section 7.04(e), the committee may, within two (2) working days after receiving the copy of such certificate, file a request that it be reviewed by the council. The council shall review the certificate at its next regular meeting following the filing of such request and approve or disapprove it, and the council's determination shall then be a final determination.
(e)
Insufficient petition, amending: A petition certified insufficient for lack of required number of valid signatures may be amended once if the petitioners committee files a notice of intention to amend it with the city secretary within two (2) working days after receiving the copy of his certificate, and files a supplementary petition with additional names within two (2) weeks after receiving the copy of such certificate. Such supplementary petition shall comply with the requirements of Section 7.03(b) and (c). Within five (5) days after amended petition is filed, the person performing the duties of city secretary shall complete a certificate as to the sufficiency of the petition as amended and shall within twenty-four (24) hours send a copy of such certificate to each member of the petitioners committee by certified mail as in the case of an original petition. The final determination as to the sufficiency of an amended petition shall be determined in the same manner as prescribed for original petitions in Section 7.04(b), (c) and (d), except that no petition, once amended, may be amended again.
(f)
Court review; new petition: A final determination as to
the sufficiency of a petition shall be subject to review in a court
or courts of competent jurisdiction. A final determination of insufficiency,
even if sustained upon court review, shall not prejudice the filing
of a new petition for the same purposes.
When a referendum petition is determined to be sufficient, the
ordinance sought to be reconsidered shall be suspended and such suspension
shall continue until the council repeals the ordinance or the ordinance
is upheld by election.
(a)
Action by council: Within sixty (60) days after the date
the initiative or referendum petition has been finally determined
sufficient, the council shall:
(b)
Submission to voters: The vote of the city on a proposed
or referred ordinance shall be held at the next general election or
at a special election on one of the specified dates for same in the
current edition of the Texas Election Code, however, said election
shall not be held less than thirty (30) days after the final council
vote. Special elections on initiated or referred ordinances shall
not be held more frequently than once each six (6) months, and no
ordinance substantially the same as an initiated ordinance which has
been defeated or substantially the same as a referred ordinance which
has been approved by any election may be initiated by the voters within
two (2) years from the date of such election. Copies of the proposed
or referred ordinance shall be made available at the polls.
(c)
Publication of proposed and referred ordinance: The person
performing the duties of city secretary shall publish at least once
in the official newspaper of the city the proposed or referred ordinance
within fifteen (15) days of the election, and shall give such other
notices and do such other things relative to such election as are
required in regular municipal elections or by the ordinance calling
said election.
(d)
Withdrawal: An initiative or referendum petition may be
withdrawn at any time prior to the time the petition has been determined
to be sufficient by filing with the city secretary a request for withdrawal
signed by at, least four (4) members of the petitioners' committee.
Upon filing of such request, the petition shall have no further force
or effect and all proceedings thereon shall be terminated.
The ballots used when voting upon such proposed or referred
ordinances shall set forth their nature sufficiently to identify them
and shall also set forth upon separate lines the words:
"FOR THE ORDINANCE," and
"AGAINST THE ORDINANCE"
(a)
Initiative: If a majority of the registered electors voting
on a proposed initiative ordinance vote in its favor, it shall be
considered adopted upon certification of the election results and
shall be treated in the same manner as ordinances of the same kind
adopted by the council. If conflicting ordinances are approved at
the same election, the one receiving the greater number of affirmative
votes shall prevail.
(b)
Repeal or amendment of an initiated ordinance: An ordinance
adopted by initiative may be repealed or mended at any time after
the expiration of two (2) years by a vote of four (4) or more of the
council members qualified and serving.
(c)
Referendum: If a majority of the registered electors voting
on a referred ordinance vote against the ordinance, it shall be considered
repealed upon certification of the election results. If a majority
of the registered electors voting on a referred ordinance vote for
the ordinance, it shall be considered in effect upon certification
of the election results.
(d)
Adoption of an ordinance repealed by referendum: An ordinance
repealed by referendum may be re-enacted at any time after the expiration
of two (2) years by a vote of four (4) or more of the council members
qualified and serving.
