The members of the council of the city of Cameron shall hold their offices for a term of two (2) years and until their successors have been elected and duly qualified.
One council member shall be elected at large from the city of Cameron and the remaining five council members shall be elected by wards. Ward one, three and five and the at large Ward to be filled on the odd numbered years and Wards two and four and the mayor shall be filled on the even numbered years. Candidates shall announce for Ward and be entered on the ballot in that manner. In the event the election of a councilmember cannot be determined because of a tie vote, the council shall call a special election within thirty (30) days to determine the winner between the candidates receiving the tie vote. The candidate receiving the highest number of qualified votes in such election shall be declared elected.
Only those persons residing in the respective single member districts hereinabove referred to and being otherwise qualified, shall be entitled to vote for the respective candidate or candidates seeking election to the position of council member for that respective ward. The polling stations at the election herein referred to shall be at City Hall or any other place(s) as approved by the United States Justice Department.
Each council member shall be a resident of the city of Cameron, and have qualifications of voters therein and further each council member running for a specific ward other than a candidate seeking the office of mayor or council member at large shall be a resident of the respective ward for election to which position said person files. The council member and other officers of the city shall not be indebted to the city; shall not hold any other public office; and shall not be interested in the profits of any contract, job or work for the municipality or interested in the sale to the city of any supplies, equipment, material or articles purchased. Any officer or council member of the city who shall cease to possess any qualifications herein required shall forfeit his office or position and any contract in which any officer shall or may become interested shall be void.
Regardless of any other provision in the Charter of the city of Cameron to the contrary notwithstanding, if any, no person shall hold the position of council member or mayor unless said person is a resident of the city and of the respective district six (6) months immediately preceding the first day of the filing period.
The mayor shall preside at meetings of the council and shall be entitled to vote upon all matters considered by the council, in case of a tie vote the mayor shall exercise such other powers and perform such other duties as are or may be conferred and imposed upon him by the Charter and the ordinances of the city. The mayor shall execute the laws and administer the government of the city. He shall be recognized as the head of the city government for all ceremonial purposes, by the courts for civil process and by the government for purposes of military law. In times of public danger or emergency, the mayor shall take command of the police, maintain law and order and enforce the law. If a vacancy occurs in the office of the mayor or in case of his absence or disability, the mayor pro-tem shall act as mayor until a successor is elected and has qualified.
A vacancy in the council shall be filled by a majority vote of the remaining members of the council. The person elected to fill such vacancy shall be a qualified voter residing in the city and having the proper qualifications. Any person elected to fill such a vacancy, as hereinabove provided in this section, shall hold such office until the next general election after he takes office; and at the next general election such office shall be filled in the same manner as herein provided for general elections, with the person elected thereat holding his office only until the expiration of the term of office for the place to which he is elected, as such terms are set out by this Charter. When more than one vacancy shall develop at one time, then a special election shall be called within forty-five days and any vacancy filled in the same manner as herein provided for general elections; provided, however, if such vacancies occur within ninety days of a general election, then no special election shall be called.
All powers of the city and the determination of all matters of policy shall be vested in the council. Without limitation of the foregoing and among the other powers that may be exercised by the council, the following are hereby enumerated for greater certainty.
(1) 
Establish administrative departments and provide salaries for all city employees.
(2) 
Adopt budget of the city.
(3) 
Authorize the issuance of bonds by a bond ordinance.
(4) 
Inquire into the conduct of any officer, department or agency of the city and make investigation as to municipal affairs and authorize the correction of irregularities.
(5) 
Adopt plats.
(6) 
Adopt and modify the official map of the city.
(7) 
Adopt, modify and carry out plans proposed for the planning, replanning, improvement, and redevelopment of neighborhoods and for the replanning, reconstruction, or redevelopment of any area or district, which may have been destroyed in whole or part by disaster.
(8) 
Provide for the establishment and designation of fire limits and prescribe the kind and character of building or structures or improvements to be erected therein, and provide for the erection of fireproof buildings within certain limits, and provide for the condemnation of dangerous structures or buildings or dilapidated buildings or buildings calculated to increase the fire hazard, and the manner of their removal or destruction.
There are hereby created the following administrative departments: Finance, Police, Fire, Law, Public Works, Health, Recreation, and Water. The council may consolidate any of the above departments by ordinance and may create such other departments as the council deems necessary by ordinance.
(1) 
Appointment and term. The city council shall appoint a manager whose term of office shall be governed by the will and pleasure of the city council and whose duties shall be prescribed and defined by the city council by ordinance and resolution in addition to the duties described in this charter and not inconsistent with the provisions of the charter. The city council may enter into an employment contract with the city manager that prescribes the conditions of employment as the city council determines appropriate, including a definite term.
(2) 
Duties. The city manager shall,
(a) 
be the chief administrative officer of the city;
(b) 
receive such compensation as may be provided by the city council;
(c) 
be subject to removal by the city council. He may demand written charges and a public hearing on the same before the city council at any time between the issuance of the order of removal and the date on which it takes effect;
(d) 
be responsible to the city council for the proper administration of all the affairs of the city, including the appointment and termination of all supervisory personnel, subject to council confirmation;
(e) 
make recommendations to the city council on all matters concerning the administration of the city;
(f) 
have superintendence over such departments, make contracts with reference to supplies and routine service, and may disburse funds in the discharge of his duties under such regulations as the city council may prescribe;
(g) 
make reports in writing to the city council and shall make such special reports as the city council may from time to time request;
(h) 
attend all meetings of the city council and take part in discussion of matters pertaining to the city but shall have no vote;
(i) 
from time to time, make suggestions to the city council and keep it fully advised as to all matters pertaining to the city;
(j) 
devote full time to the service of the city and never have any private interest, directly or indirectly, in any contract with the city or to which the city is a party.
(3) 
Acting City Manager. By letter filed with the city secretary, the city manager may designate a city officer to exercise the powers and perform the duties of city manager during the manager’s temporary absence or disability. The city council may revoke such designation at any time and appoint another officer of the city to serve until the city manager returns.
The city manager shall appoint a competent person to be secretary of the city, subject to the council’s confirmation. He shall give notices of council meetings, shall keep the journal of its proceedings and shall authenticate by his signature and record in full, in a book kept for the purpose, all ordinances and resolutions, and shall perform such other duties as may be assigned him by the council. The city manager may assign all the duties of director of finance, and-or all the duties of assessor and collector of taxes of the city to the city secretary.
The city judge shall be appointed by the city council. The judge shall be appointed for a term of two (2) years. He shall receive a salary as may be fixed by the council; however, the salary shall in no case be determined by the fees or fines received by the corporation court. The judge shall be judge of the corporation court, which shall have the jurisdiction and shall be conducted in the manner prescribed and authorized by law. All costs and fines imposed by the corporation court, or by any court in any cases appealed from judgments of the corporation court, shall be paid into the treasury for the use and benefit of the city. The city secretary or his deputy may be clerk of the corporation court. The clerk of the said court and his deputies shall have the power to administer oaths and affidavits, make certificates, affix the seal of said city thereto, and generally do and perform any and all acts usual and necessary by clerks of courts in conducting the business thereof.
Meetings of Council:
On the first meeting next following the regular municipal election or as soon thereafter as practicable, the council shall meet at the usual place for holding meetings and the newly elected members shall qualify as prescribed by law and assume the duties of office. The council shall at this time and meeting select one of its members to serve as mayor pro-tem, and he shall perform all the duties of the mayor in his absence or disability. Thereafter, the council shall meet regularly at such times as prescribed by ordinance, but not less frequently than once each month. All meetings of the council shall be open to the public. Special meetings shall be called by the city secretary upon request of the mayor or four council members. A quorum shall be four council members, excluding the Mayor. (Prop. 2 approved at election of 5/12/07, certified by Res. 2007-05-15-012, sec. 2, adopted 5/15/07)
The council shall be the judge of the election returns and qualifications of its members and for such purpose shall have power to subpoena witnesses and require the production of records but the decision of the council in any such case shall be subject to a review by the courts.
The council shall determine its own rules and order of business. It shall keep minutes of its proceedings and such minutes shall be open to public inspection.
In addition to such acts of the council as are required by statute or by this Charter to be by ordinance, every act of the council establishing a fine, forfeiture, or other penalty or providing for the expenditure of funds or for the contracting of indebtedness shall be by ordinance. The enacting clause of all ordinances shall be: BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF CAMERON.
Every ordinance shall be introduced in written or printed form and, upon passage, shall take effect at the time indicated therein; provided that any ordinance imposing a penalty, fine or forfeiture for a violation of its provisions shall become effective immediately after its publication as required by Law. The city secretary shall give notice of the passage of every ordinance imposing a penalty, fine or forfeiture for a violation of the provisions thereof, by causing the descriptive caption or title, including the penalty, of any ordinance to be published in the official newspaper in the city of Cameron at least twice within ten days after the passage of said ordinance. He shall note on every ordinance the caption of which is hereby required to be published, and on the record thereof, the fact that same has been published as required by the charter, and the date of such publication, and promulgation of such ordinance, provided that the provisions of this section shall not apply to the correction, amendment, revision and modification of the ordinances of the city for publication in book or pamphlet form. Every ordinance shall be authenticated by the signature of the mayor and city secretary and shall be systematically recorded in an ordinance book in a manner approved by the council. It shall only be necessary to record the caption or title of ordinances in the Minutes of Council meetings. The council shall have power to cause the ordinances of the city to be corrected, amended, revised, codified and printed in code form as often as the council deems advisable, and such printed code, when adopted by the council, shall be in full force and effect without the necessity of publishing the same or any part thereof in a newspaper. It shall be necessary to the validity of any ordinance that it shall be read at two regular meetings of the city council of the city of Cameron before final passage thereof, except, however, where otherwise provided in this charter and provided that upon a finding by the council of an emergency, an ordinance may be passed upon one reading at any meeting of the city council. An emergency, as herein used, shall mean only war, public disaster or a situation involving the actual operation of the government of the city of Cameron.
Prior to the end of each fiscal year, the council shall employ a practicing certified public accountant, who is licensed by the State of Texas, to make an independent audit of accounts and other evidences of financial transactions of the city government and shall submit a report to the council. Notice shall be given by publication in the official newspaper in the city of Cameron that the audit is on file at the City Hall for inspection. Such accountant shall have no personal interest, direct or indirect, in the fiscal affairs of the city government. They shall not maintain any accounts or records of the city business, but within the specifications approved by the council, shall post audit the books and documents kept by the department of finance and any separate or subordinate accounts kept by any other office, department, or agency of the city government is licensed to practice in the State of Texas and who is a resident of the city of Cameron.