(a) The mayor
or any other member of the city council may be removed from office
in the following manner:
Any qualified voter of the city, who is qualified to vote on
the position of the member to be recalled, may make and file with
the city secretary an affidavit containing the name of any member
of the city council whose removal is sought and a statement of the
grounds for removal. The secretary shall thereupon deliver to the
voter making such affidavit copies of petition forms to be used for
demanding such removal. Such forms shall be issued by the city secretary
with the city secretary’s signature thereto attached, shall
be dated and addressed to the city council, indicate the person to
whom issued, and state the name of the member whose removal is sought.
A copy of the petition shall be rendered in a record book for that
purpose to be kept in the office of the city secretary. A recall petition
to be effective must be returned and filed with the city secretary
within thirty (30) days after the filing of the affidavit for recall.
The petition must be signed by at least fifty (50) per cent of the
number of votes cast at the last regular municipal election for that
office which is the subject of the petition, but in no event shall
such number be less than seven thousand five hundred (7,500) for the
mayor or council member-at-large and not less than two thousand (2,000)
for any other council member. All of the persons signing the petition
must be qualified voters, registered to vote and eligible to vote
for the position that is the subject of the recall.
(b) Signatures
to a recall petition need not all be appended to one paper, but to
each such petition paper there shall be attached an affidavit of the
circulator thereof, stating that each signature thereto was made in
his presence and is the genuine signature of the person whose name
it purports to be. Each signer of a recall petition shall sign his
name in ink or indelible pencil and shall place after that person’s
name the date when the signature was made, residence by street and
number, voter registration number and election precinct number. Recall
petition papers provided by the city secretary shall be in form substantially
as follows:
We, the undersigned qualified voters of the (City of Odessa
or single-member district no. __________ whichever is applicable),
hereby demand a recall election for the position of _____.
|
Name
|
Address
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Voter Reg. No.
|
Election Precinct
|
Date
|
___________________________________________
|
___________________________________________
|
State of Texas )
|
Ector County )
|
__________, being duly sworn, deposes and says that the undersigned
is the circulator of the foregoing petition paper and that the signatures
appended thereto were made in his presence and are genuine signatures
of the persons whose names they purport to be.
|
Signed_____________________
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Subscribed and sworn to before me this __________ day of__________,
20_____.
|
_____________________ Notary Public
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(c) All papers
and affidavits comprising a recall petition shall be assembled and
filed with the secretary as one instrument, with a statement attached
thereto giving the names and addresses of three (3) qualified voters,
who, as a committee of the petitioners, shall be officially regarded
as filing the petition. Within ten (10) days of the date of filing
a recall petition, the secretary shall determine the sufficiency thereof
and attach thereto a certificate showing the result of the secretary’s
examination. If the secretary shall certify that the petition is insufficient,
the secretary shall set forth in the certificate the particulars in
which it is defective and shall at once notify the committee of the
petitioners of such findings.
(d) A recall
petition may be amended at any time within twenty (20) days after
the making of the certificate of insufficiency by the city secretary,
by filing a supplementary petition upon additional papers issued,
signed and filed as provided herein for an original petition. The
secretary shall, within five (5) days after such an amendment is filed,
make examination of the amended petition and, if the secretary’s
certificate shall show the petition still to be insufficient, the
secretary shall file the petition and notify the committee of the
petitioners of his/her finding. The finding of the insufficiency of
a recall petition shall not prejudice the filing of a new petition
for the same purpose.
(e) If a recall
petition, or amended petition, shall be certified by the secretary
to be sufficient, the city secretary shall at once submit it to the
city council with a certificate to that effect and shall notify the
member whose removal is sought by such action. If the member whose
removal is sought does not resign within five (5) days of such notice,
the city council shall at the next regular city council meeting order
and fix for holding a recall election. Any such election shall be
called for the next election date authorized by state law. It may
be held at the same time as any other general or special election.
It shall submit the question of whether the voters are for or against
recall of the person subject to the recall.
(f) If a mayor
or council member in regard to whom sufficient recall petition is
submitted to the city council shall resign within five (5) days of
notice, or if the results of the recall election are that the majority
of voters voting on the proposition vote for recall and such election
has been certified by the city council, the place thus made vacant
on the city council shall be filled by the appointment of a person
who has the necessary qualifications by a majority vote of the remaining
members of the city council, and such person or persons so appointed
by the city council shall serve in such position until a successor
is elected and has taken the oath. The city council shall call an
election for such position at the time of the next general election
for the city. If the next general election for the city is the same
as the date for the regular election for such position subject to
recall, then a special election shall not be called and the successor
will be elected at such regular election. The person who is appointed
to fill the vacancy and the person who was recalled may be a candidate
for such position and be the successor if elected.
(g) No recall
shall be filed against the mayor or any council member within three
(3) months after that person takes office or, in the case of a mayor
or council member subjected to a recall election and not removed thereby,
until at least six (6) months after that election.
(Char. art. VII, sec. 1; Ordinance 85-28, sec. 4, adopted 4/9/85)