A. 
Initiative.
The qualified voters of the City shall have power to propose ordinances to the City Council. Such power shall not extend to the budget or any capital program, or relating to the appropriation of money, issuing of bonds, setting of utility rates and levy of taxes or salaries of City Officers or employees, or any other ordinance not subject to initiative as provided by state statute or case law.
B. 
Referendum.
The qualified voters of the City shall have power to require reconsideration by the City Council of any adopted ordinance. Such power shall not extend to the budget or any capital program, or relating to the appropriation of money, issuing bonds, setting of utility rates and levy of taxes or salaries of City officers or employees, or any other ordinance not subject to referendum as provided by state statute or case law.
C. 
Recall.
The qualified voters of the City shall have the power to petition for recall of the Mayor or any member of the City Council.
(Charter adopted 11/2/10)
Any three (3) qualified voters may commence initiative, referendum, or recall proceedings by filing with the City Secretary 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 address to which all notices to the committee are to be sent and setting out in full the proposed initiative ordinance or citing the ordinances sought to be reconsidered, or the name of the Council member(s) or Mayor to be recalled.
(Charter adopted 11/2/10)
Any elected City official, whether elected to office by qualified voters or appointed by the City Council to fill a vacancy, shall be subject to recall and removal from office by the qualified voters of the City on those grounds as set forth in section 22.077 of the Texas Local Government Code as it may be amended.
(Charter adopted 11/2/10)
Before the question of recall of such officer(s) shall be submitted to the qualified voters of the City, a petition demanding such question to be so submitted shall first be filed with the person performing the duties of City Secretary, which said petition must contain the number of valid signatures of qualified voters totaling at least thirty percent (30%) of the number of qualified voters registered to vote at the last general City election. Each signer of such recall petition shall personally sign their name thereto in ink or indelible pencil and shall write after their name their place of residence, giving the name of the street and the number, and shall also write thereon the day, the month and the year their signature was affixed.
(Charter adopted 11/2/10)
All papers of a petition shall be uniform in size and style and shall be assembled as one instrument for filing. Each signature shall comply with Chapter 277 of the Texas Election Code as it may be amended from time to time. The petition shall be addressed to the City Council of the City and the content shall distinctly and specifically point to the ground upon which such petition for removal is predicated. Further, said petition shall state distinctly and specifically the alleged action(s) and the factual circumstance(s) surrounding such action(s) taken by the official(s) that warrant the charge as to give the officer(s) sought to be removed notice to [of] the matter(s) and thing(s) with which the officer(s) is charged. If there be more than one (1) ground, said petition shall distinctly and specifically state each ground upon which such petition for removal is predicated and shall distinctly and specifically state the alleged action(s) and the factual circumstances(s) surrounding such action(s) taken by the official(s) that warrant the charges as to give the officer(s) sought to be removed notice of the matter(s) and things(s) with which the officer(s) is charged. The signatures shall be verified by oath in the following form:
STATE OF TEXAS
COUNTY OF BELL
I, _____, being first duly sworn, on oath depose and say that I am one of the signers of the above petition, and that the statements made therein are true, and that each signature appearing thereto was made in my presence on the day and date it purports to have been made, and l solemnly swear that the same is the genuine signature of the person it purports to be.
Signature __________
Sworn and subscribed before me this _____ day of __________ 20 _____ .
NOTARY PUBLIC, STATE OF TEXAS
My commission expires: __________
(Charter adopted 11/2/10)
A. 
Certificate of City Secretary.
Within thirty (30) business days after the petition is filed, the City Secretary shall complete a certificate as to its sufficiency or insufficiency as mandates [mandated] herein, specifying, if it is insufficient, the particulars wherein it is defective and shall within that thirty (30) business day period send a copy of the certificate to the petitioners’ committee by certified mail or by hand delivery to the committee member.
B. 
Amendment.
A petition requiring a certain number of valid signatures can be amended in accordance with Chapter 277 of the Texas Election Code after having been filed with the City Secretary.
C. 
Presentation to Council.
If a petition or amended petition is certified as sufficient, after the City Secretary’s review, the City Secretary shall, at the next regular Council meeting present such certificate to the Council. If a petition or amended petition is certified insufficient and the petitioners’ committee does not elect to amend under Subsection B of this Section within the time required, the City Secretary shall at the next regular Council meeting present such certificate to the Council and the certificate shall then be a final determination as to the sufficiency of the petition.
(Charter adopted 11/2/10; Ordinance E20-08 #02 adopted 8/6/20, prop. F, approved at election of 11/3/20)
The officer whose removal is sought in accordance with this Article may, within five (5) business days after such recall petition has been presented to the City Council, request that a public hearing be held to permit him/her to present the facts pertinent to the charges specified in the recall petition. In this event, the City Council shall order such public hearing to be held, not less than five (5) business days but not more than fifteen (15) business days after receiving such request for a public hearing.
(Charter adopted 11/2/10)
If the officer whose recall is sought does not voluntarily resign, then the City Council shall, for the next available election date, order an election for holding such recall election. If, after the recall election date is established, the officer vacates his/her position, the election shall be cancelled, in accordance with State Law.
(Charter adopted 11/2/10)
Ballots used at recall elections shall conform to the following requirements:
(1) 
With respect to each person whose removal is sought, the question shall be submitted: “Shall __________ be removed from the office of __________ by recall?”
(2) 
Immediately below each question, there shall be printed the following words, one above the other, in the order indicated:
“Yes”
“No”
(Charter adopted 11/2/10)
If a majority of the votes cast at the recall election are against the recall of the person named on the ballot, the officer shall continue in office for the remainder of his/her unexpired term, subject to recall as provided herein. If a majority of the votes cast at recall election are for the recall of the person named on the ballot, the officer shall, regardless of any technical defects in the recall petition, be deemed removed from office upon passing the canvassing of the election, and the vacancy shall be filled by the City Council as provided in Section 3.08 subsection C of this Charter.
(Charter adopted 11/2/10)
No recall petition shall be filed against any officer of the City within six (6) months after the officer’s election, or within six (6) months after an election for such officer’s recall.
(Charter adopted 11/2/10)
(1) 
Following a review by the City Attorney for enforceability and legality, qualified voters of the City may initiate legislation by ordinance by submitting a petition addressed to the City Council, which requests the submission of the proposed ordinance to a vote of the qualified voters of the City. Said petition must contain the number of valid signatures totaling at least twenty percent (20%) of the total number of qualified voters registered to vote at the last general City election. Each copy of the petition shall have attached to it a copy of the full text of the proposed ordinance and an affidavit of the petition circulator(s). The petition, its form and content, shall be the same as for recalls as provided in this Article. The certification of the City Secretary, and any amendment to the petition and its presentation to City Council shall be the same as for recalls as provided in this Article.
(2) 
When an initiative petition has been fully determined sufficient, the Council shall at their next regular Council meeting, consider the proposed initiative ordinance in the manner provided in Article III. Upon representation [presentation] to the City Council, it shall become the duty of the City Council, within sixty (60) days after the date of petition was finally determined sufficient, to pass and adopt such ordinance without alteration as to meaning or effect, or to call for an election, to be held on a date allowed under the Texas Election Code, at which the qualified voters of the City shall vote on the question of adopting or rejecting the proposed ordinance. Unless otherwise provided by law, any election for an initiative under this Charter shall be held on the first authorized uniform election date that occurs after the sixtieth (60th) calendar day after the City Council’s decision to submit the ordinance to the voters.
(3) 
If a majority of the qualified 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 all respects 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 greatest number of affirmative votes shall prevail to the extent of such conflict.
(Charter adopted 11/2/10)
(1) 
Qualified voters of the City may require that any ordinance, with the exception of ordinances dealing with any budget or any capital program, or relating to the appropriation of money, issuing of bonds, setting of utility rates and levy of taxes or salaries of City officers or employees, or any other ordinance not subject to referendum as provided by state statute or case law, passed by the City Council be submitted to the voters of the City for approval or disapproval, by submitting a petition for this purpose within sixty (60) days after the date the ordinance sought to be reconsidered was adopted.
Said petition must contain the number of valid signatures totaling at least twenty percent (20%) of the total number of registered voters qualified to vote at the last general City election. The petition, its form and content, shall be the same as for Recalls as provided in this Article. The certification of the City Secretary, any amendment to the petition and its presentation to City Council shall be the same as for Recalls as provided in this Article.
City Council shall either repeal the referendum ordinance or submit the referendum ordinance to the qualified voters of the City within thirty (30) days after the date the petition was finally determined sufficient, or at the next uniform election date, if a uniform election date does not exist within thirty (30) days after the petition is finally determined sufficient.
(2) 
Pending the holding of such election, each ordinance or resolution shall be suspended from taking effect and shall not later take effect unless a majority of the qualified voters voting at such election shall vote in favor of the proposed referendum ordinance. Unless otherwise provided by law, any election for a referendum under this Charter shall be held on the first authorized uniform election date that occurs after the sixtieth (60th) day after the decision by the City Council.
(3) 
If a majority of the qualified electors voting on the proposed referendum ordinance vote against it, it shall be considered repealed upon certification of the election results.
(Charter adopted 11/2/10)
The City Council, upon its own motion and by the affirmative vote of a majority of the full membership of the City Council, may submit to popular vote at an election for adoption or rejection any proposed ordinance or resolution or measure, or may submit for repeal any existing ordinance, or resolution, or measure, in the same manner and with the same force and effect as provided in this Article for submission of initiative and referendum petitions, and may, at its discretion, call for an election for this purpose on an authorized uniform election date as provided by State Law.
(Charter adopted 11/2/10)
The ballots used when voting upon initiative or referendum shall be set forth in their nature to sufficiently identify them and shall also set forth, upon separate lines, the words:
“For the Ordinance”
Or
“Against the Ordinance”
(Charter adopted 11/2/10)
No ordinance which may have been passed by the City Council upon a petition or adopted by popular vote under the provisions of this Article may be repealed or amended by the City Council for a period of three (3) years from the date said ordinance became effective. An ordinance which may have been passed by the City Council upon a petition or adopted by popular vote under the provisions of this Article may be repealed or amended at any time in response to a referendum petition or by submission as provided by Section 9.14 of this Charter.
(Charter adopted 11/2/10)
Nothing contained in this Article shall be construed to be in conflict with any of the provisions of this Charter pertaining to ordinances granting franchises when valuable rights shall have accrued thereunder.
(Charter adopted 11/2/10)