(a) 
Appointment and Qualifications.
The City Council shall employ a City Manager who shall be the chief administrative and executive officer of the city. The City Manager shall be employed solely on the basis of education, experience and fitness for the position, and shall be required to reside in the City or within the ETJ, (extraterritorial jurisdiction), of the City of El Campo within twelve months from the date of hire. The City Manager shall be employed for a salary and on terms to be determined by City Council. City Council may remove the City Manager for cause on a majority vote of the council, on terms to be determined by City Council. No member of the City Council shall be employed as City Manager during the time for which they are elected nor for one (1) year thereafter.
(b) 
Responsibilities of the City Manager.
The City Manager shall be responsible to the City Council for the efficient and economical administration of the city government. The City Manager shall have the power to appoint and to remove all department heads, subject to the approval of the City Council. The City Manager shall have the power to appoint and remove all other employees in the administrative service of the city. The City Manager may authorize the head of a department to appoint and remove subordinates in their respective department. Employees, excluding the City Manager, the City Attorney, the Judge of Municipal Court and Department Heads, shall have the right to appeal a termination to a grievance review board appointed by City Council. The decision of the review board shall be final.
Except for the purpose of inquiry, the City Council and its members shall deal with the administrative service solely through the City Manager. They shall not in any manner take part in the appointment or removal of any person subordinate to the City Manager, other than department heads, nor shall they give any instructions to any subordinate of the City Manager.
(c) 
Duties of the City Manager.
The City Manager shall supervise the administration of the affairs of the city, see that ordinances of the city are enforced, act in such a manner that will preserve and maintain the order and safety of the community and general public, recommend to the City Council concerning the affairs of the city, attend all meetings of the City Council (except when absence is permitted by City Council) with the right to discuss but not to vote, inform the City Council on the city’s finances, prepare the annual budget, and perform such other duties as the City Council may require which are consistent with this charter.
(Ordinance 2018-12, sec. 6, adopted 5/14/18; Ordinance 2020-24, prop. C, adopted 11/9/20)
The City Council may abolish, create or consolidate offices and departments of the city government as it may deem necessary, except as otherwise provided for in this Charter.
The City Manager, and such other officers and employees as the City Council may require to do so, shall give a bond in such amount and surety as may be approved by the City Council. The premiums on such bonds shall be paid by the city. Every officer and department head of the city shall take the oath of office now prescribed by the constitution of Texas.
There shall be established and maintained a Department of Police to preserve order within the city and to secure the residents of said city from violence and the property therein from injury or loss.
Chief of Police: The Chief of Police shall be the chief administrative officer of the Department of Police. The Chief of Police shall, with the approval of the City Manager, appoint and remove the employees of said department and shall perform such duties as may be required by the City Council. The Chief of Police shall be appointed by the City Manager, with the approval of the City Council, as provided in Article 998, Chapter 3, Title 28 of the Revised Civil Statutes of the State of Texas of 1925 as now or hereafter amended.
Special Police: No persons except as otherwise provided by general law or the Charter or the ordinances passed pursuant thereto shall act as special police or special detective.
The City Manager shall appoint the City Secretary and such Assistant City Secretaries as the City Council shall deem advisable. The City Secretary, or an Assistant City Secretary, shall give notice of council meetings, shall keep the minutes of the proceedings of such meetings, shall authenticate by their signature and record in full in a book kept and indexed for the purpose, all ordinances and resolutions and shall perform such other duties as the City Manager shall assign and those elsewhere provided for in this Charter. Further, providing that the Assistant City Secretary may perform any and all of the duties of the City Secretary.
(a) 
There shall be established and maintained a court designated as “Municipal Court” for the trial of misdemeanor offenses with all such powers and duties as are now or hereafter may be prescribed by the laws of the State of Texas relative to Municipal or Recorder’s Courts.
(b) 
The Judge of said court shall be required to reside in the City or within the ETJ, (extraterritorial jurisdiction), of the City of El Campo within twelve months from the date of hire. Shall be appointed by the City Council of each odd-numbered year for a term of (2) two years, and shall receive such compensation as shall be determined by the City Council.
(c) 
The Municipal Judge, with City Manager approval, shall appoint the clerk of the Municipal Court. The City Manager or his or her designee shall oversee the operations of this department.
(d) 
The clerk, or Judge of said court and all deputies shall have the power to administer oaths and affidavits, make certificates, affix the seal of said court thereto, and generally do and perform any and all of the acts usual and necessary by the clerk of courts in issuing process of said courts and conducting the business thereof.
(e) 
In the case of the disability or absence of the Judge of the Municipal Court, the City Council may appoint an Associate Municipal Judge to act as judge of said court.
(Ordinance 2018-12, sec. 6, adopted 5/14/18; Ordinance 2020-24, prop. D, adopted 11/9/20)
The City Council shall appoint a competent and duly licensed attorney practicing law in the City of El Campo, Texas, who shall be the City Attorney. The City Attorney shall receive such compensation as shall be determined by the City Council. The City Attorney shall be the legal advisor of, and attorney and counsel for, the city and all officers and departments thereof. The City Attorney, or such other attorneys approved by the City Council, shall represent the city in all litigation.
The City Council shall appoint a City Health Officer and a Board of Health. The Board of Health shall be the governing board of the Department of Health and Sanitation.
(a) 
Appointment and Qualifications.
(1) 
The City Health Officer must be a qualified physician licensed to practice medicine in the State of Texas, a resident of the City of El Campo and must be a qualified voter of Wharton County. The City Health Officer shall receive such compensation for their services as the City Council shall determine and shall serve for a period of two (2) years or until their successor shall have been appointed. The first City Health Officer shall be appointed within sixty (60) days after the adoption of this Charter and each succeeding City Health Officer shall be appointed or reappointed within one (1) month after the regular city election in each odd-numbered year.
(2) 
The Board of Health shall be composed of three (3) members. The members must be qualified voters of Wharton County. One such member shall be a qualified physician (which may be the same as the City Health Officer), licensed to practice medicine in the State of Texas; one member a duly licensed sanitary engineer, or a person whose training is related to the fields of medicine, sanitation, or veterinary medicine; and the third member shall be the City Manager. The members shall receive such compensation for their services on the board as the City Council shall determine and shall serve for a period of two (2) years, or until their successors shall have been appointed and qualified. The first such Board shall be appointed within sixty (60) days after the adoption of this Charter and each succeeding Board shall be appointed or reappointed within one (1) month after the regular city election in each odd-numbered years.
(b) 
Removal From Office or Removal From Board; Vacancies; How Filled.
The City Health Officer and members of the Board of Health shall be subject to removal from office by the City Council for any cause deemed by the City Council sufficient for this removal in the interest of the public service, and the decision of the City Council shall be final. Any vacancy shall be filled by the City Council for the unexpired term of the member whose place has become vacant, either by removal or otherwise.
(c) 
Administration.
The physician member shall be the presiding officer of the Board. The City Manager shall be responsible for the general administration of the Department of Health and Sanitation and the supervision of the employees thereof.
(d) 
Duties of the Board of Health.
The Board shall advise the City Council on a program of public health; shall cooperate with nearby cities on problems of health and sanitation; shall cooperate with the Commissioners Court of Wharton County and its agencies, and with the State Health Department and other departments of the state government in matters pertaining to health and sanitation.
(e) 
Sanitary Code.
The Board of Health shall prepare and submit to the City Council for adoption a sanitary code. The sanitary code will specify the regulations and inspections necessary to safeguard the public health of persons resident within the city.
The City Council is hereby authorized and shall organize, support and maintain a Fire Department as the best interests of the city may require and the City Council is hereby given all rights and authority as is set out and provided in Articles 1067, 1068, 1069, 1070, and 1070A of the Revised Civil Statutes of Texas in connection with their operation of and control over said Fire Department, and may pass such other ordinances or regulatory measures as the best interests of the City of El Campo shall require.
Editor’s note–The statutes cited above are now located in V.T.C.A., Local Government Code, sec. 342.002 et seq.
The City Council may abolish or consolidate such offices and departments as it may deem to be to the best interest of the city, and may divide the administration of any such departments as it may deem advisable; may create new departments, and may discontinue any offices or departments at its discretion, except those specifically established by this Charter.