The council shall consist of a mayor, who may reside in any portion of the city; a councilman from ward no. 1, who shall be a resident of ward no. 1 at the time of his/her election and for a period of six months prior thereto; councilman from ward no. 2, who shall be a resident of ward no. 2 at the time of his/her election and for a period of six months prior thereto; councilman from ward no. 3, who shall be a resident of ward no. 3 at the time of his/her election and for a period of six months prior thereto; and a councilman from ward no. 4, who shall be a resident of ward no. 4 at the time of his/her election and for a period of six months prior thereto; a councilman from ward no. 5, who shall be a resident of ward no. 5 at the time of his/her election and for a period six months prior thereto; and a councilman from ward. no 6, who shall be a resident of ward no. 6 at the time of his/her election and for a period of six months prior thereto.
(Amended at election of 5/7/94)
Each member of the council shall be elected for a term of three years or until his/her successor shall be elected and qualified.
(Amended at election of 5/7/94)
Each member of the council shall at the time of his/her election to office, be at least twenty-five years of age and shall be a qualified voter of the State of Texas and a citizen of and taxpayer of the city for a period of time not less than two years next preceding his/her election. No member of the council shall hold any other office or employment under the city government while he/she is a member of the council, nor shall he/she hold any paid employment under the city government within two years thereafter. A member of the council ceasing to reside in the city or who shall be convicted of a crime involving moral turpitude shall immediately and ipso facto forfeit his/her office.
(Amended at election of 5/7/94)
If only one seat on the council becomes vacant, it shall be filled by a majority vote of the remaining members until the next regular city election. If two or more seats on the council become vacant at any time a special election shall be called to fill such vacancies unless the next regular city election is to be held within a 90 day period and in that event the seats shall remain vacant until filled at such regular election; provided, however, if at any time as many as four vacancies exist on the council, a special election shall be immediately ordered to fill all such vacancies. Such special election shall be ordered by the city council and, in case of its failure to order the same, such special election shall be ordered as provided in section 1 of article II of this Charter.
(Amended at election of 5/7/94)
All powers and authority which are expressly or impliedly conferred on or possessed by the city shall be vested in and exercised by the council except those expressly conferred upon other city officers, commissions, or boards by this Charter or by state law.
(Amended at election of 5/7/94)
The council shall have the power to inquire into the official conduct of any department, agency, office, officer or employee of the city and for that purpose shall have the power to administer oaths, subpoena witnesses, compel the production of books, papers, and other evidence material to the inquiry. The council shall provide by ordinance penalties for contempt for failure to obey any such subpoena or for failure to produce any such papers, books or other evidence and shall have the power to punish any such contempt in the manner provided by such ordinance.
(Amended at election of 5/7/94)
Neither the council nor any of its members shall instruct or request the city manager or any of his/her subordinates to appoint to or remove from office or employment any person except with respect to those offices which are to be filled by appointment by the council under the provision of this Charter. Except for the purpose of inquiry and investigation, the council and its members shall deal with the administrative service of the city solely through the city manager and shall not give orders to any of the city manager’s subordinates either publicly or privately.
(Amended at election of 5/7/94)
The council shall by election designate one of its members as mayor pro tem who shall serve in such capacity during the pleasure of the council. The mayor pro tem shall act as mayor during the absence or disability of the mayor and shall have power to perform every act the mayor could perform.
(Amended at election of 5/7/94)
Each councilman shall receive the sum of ten and no/100 dollars ($10.00) and the mayor the sum of fifteen and no/100 dollars ($15.00) for each meeting of the council; provided that neither the mayor nor any councilman shall receive pay for more than two meetings in any one month; and provide[d] further that neither the mayor nor any councilman shall receive pay for any meeting at which he/she was not present.
(Amended at election of 5/7/94)
There shall be regular public meetings of the council at such times and places as shall be prescribed by ordinance or resolution. Regular meetings of the council shall be held at least twice each calendar month. Special meetings may be called at any time by the mayor or city council. Notice of special meetings shall be given to all members of the council by fax sent to each member of the council at his/her last known address at least eight hours prior to the hour of such special meeting designating the time and place of such meeting and the subject, or subjects, to be considered at the same and no other subject, or subjects, shall be considered at such special meeting; provided however, that any member of the council may, either before or after such special meeting, waive such notice.
(Amended at election of 5/7/94)
The council shall by ordinance determine its own rules and order of business. Four qualified and serving members of the council shall constitute a quorum for all meetings for the transaction of all business but no action of the council shall be of any force or effect unless it is adopted by the favorable votes of four or more members of the council.
A member of the council shall not vote upon the consideration of any matter involving his/her own official conduct or where his/her financial interest is involved; in which event such member shall give his/her reasons for not voting and such reasons shall be entered upon the minutes of the council. Financial interest shall be construed to mean ownership or contractual right to 1% or more of the assets or profits of one or more of the entities directly affected by the action of the council, or if the member of the Council receives at least 5% of his/her salary from one or more of the entities. Minutes of all meetings of the council shall be taken and recorded and such minutes shall constitute a public record.
(Amended at election of 5/7/94)
The council may make provisions for the attendance and service of a chaplain at each regular meeting and at any special meetings at which his/her services are desired.
(Amended at election of 5/7/94)
The council shall legislate by ordinance and the enacting clause of every ordinance shall be: “Be it ordained by the city council of the City of Lufkin.” Every ordinance enacted by the council shall be signed by the mayor, or mayor pro tem, or by two councilmen and shall be filed with and recorded by the city secretary. All ordinances, unless otherwise provided by law or this Charter, shall be read and passed in two regular meetings of the council before their adoption. All ordinances, unless otherwise provided by law or this Charter, or by the terms of such ordinance, shall take effect immediately upon final passage thereof. The requirements for reading and passing ordinances in two regular meetings may be dispensed with where an ordinance relating to the immediate preservation of the public peace, health or safety is adopted by the favorable vote of three-fourths of all council members qualified and serving and contains a statement of the nature of the emergency.
(Amended at election of 5/7/94)
Except as otherwise provided by law or this Charter, the city secretary shall give notice of the enactment of every ordinance imposing any penalty, fine or forfeiture for any violation of any of its provisions and of every other ordinance required by law or this Charter to be published by causing the said ordinance, or its caption and penalty, to be published at least one time within ten days after final passage thereof in the official newspaper of the city. The affidavit of such publication by the publisher of such newspaper taken before any officer authorized to administer oaths and filed with the city secretary shall be conclusive proof of the legal publication and promulgation of such ordinance in all courts. Such ordinance shall take effect ten days after the date of such publication, provided that any penal ordinances passed as an emergency measure shall take effect immediately on its publication.
The council shall have the power to cause all general ordinances of the city to be compiled and printed in code form. When adopted by the council, the printed codes of general ordinances contemplated by this section shall be in full force and effect without the necessity of such code, or any part thereof, being published in the official newspaper of the city. The caption, descriptive clause and other formal parts of the ordinances of the city may be omitted without affecting the validity of such ordinances when they are published as a code. Every general ordinance enacted subsequent to such codification shall be enacted as an amendment to the code.
(Amended at election of 5/7/94)