The people of the City of DeSoto reserve the power of direct
legislation by initiative, and in the exercise of power, may propose
any ordinance not in conflict with this Charter, the State Constitution,
or the state laws, except an ordinance appropriating money or authorizing
the levy of taxes or an ordinance repealing an ordinance appropriating
money or levying taxes. Any initiated ordinance may be submitted to
the Council by a petition signed by at least thirty percent (30%)
of the number of qualified voters who voted in the last mayoral election.
The people reserve the power to approve or reject at the polls
any legislation enacted by a Council. The qualified voters of the
City may require that any ordinance enacted by the City Council be
submitted to the qualified voters of the City for approval or disapproval
no later than thirty (30) days after the effective date of any ordinance
which is subject to referendum, by submitting a petition signed by
at least thirty percent (30%) of the number of qualified voters who
voted in the last mayoral election, filed with the City Secretary
requesting that such ordinance be either repealed or submitted to
a vote of the people. When such a petition has been certified as sufficient
by the City Secretary, the ordinance shall be suspended from taking
effect and shall not later take effect unless a majority of the qualified
voters voting on the same shall vote in favor of the ordinance. The
power of referendum shall not apply to ordinances levying taxes, appropriating
money, authorizing the issuance of bonds, zoning, and any ordinance
not the proper subject of referendum by the state constitution or
state law.
(Ordinance 2324-23 adopted 7/18/2023)
Initiative petition papers shall contain the full text of the
proposed legislation in the form of an ordinance, including a descriptive
caption. The signatures to the initiative or referendum need not be
all appended to one paper, but each signer shall sign his or her name
in the signer’s own handwriting in ink or indelible pencil.
The petition must contain in addition to the signature, the signer’s
printed name, date of birth, voter’s registration number, residence
address and the date of signing. One of the signers of each separate
paper petition shall make an affidavit that he, and he only, personally
circulated such petition and that signature appended thereto was made
in his presence and is the genuine signature of the person whose name
it purports to be, and further that no signature shall have been placed
thereon before the one hundred eightieth (180th) day before the petition
is filed.
Within ten (10) days after an initiative or referendum petition
is filed, the City Secretary shall determine whether the same is signed
by the requisite number of qualified voters. The City Secretary shall
certify the results thereof to the Council at its next regular meeting.
A petition may not be supplemented, modified, or amended on or after
the date it is received by the City Secretary except that the petitioner
may file one supplementary petition by the original deadline if the
original petition contains a number of signatures that exceeds the
required minimum number by 10 percent or more and is received by the
City Secretary not later than the 10th day before the date of the
deadline. The City Secretary shall notify the petitioner as to the
sufficiency of the supplemental petition not later than the fifth
regular business day after the date of its receipt. If the supplemental
petition is found to be insufficient, the City Secretary shall return
the petition to the person filing same, without prejudice to the filing
of a new petition for the same purpose; provided however, that upon
finding the supplemental petition to be insufficient, no new petition
covering the same subject matter shall be filed until six (6) months
shall have elapsed from the date of filing of the original petition.
The City Attorney shall review the petition to determine that it is
a proper subject and in proper form. If the petition shall be found
to be sufficient, the Secretary shall submit the same to the City
Council without delay.
(Ordinance 2324-23 adopted 7/18/2023)
When the Council receives an authorized initiative petition
certified by the City Secretary to be sufficient, the Council shall
either:
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Pass the initiated ordinance without amendment with thirty (30)
days after the date of the certification to the Council; or
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Submit said initiated ordinance without amendment to a vote
of the qualified voters of the City on the next uniform election date
or other date as allowed by law.
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Submit said initiated ordinance without amendment and an alternative
ordinance on the same subject proposed by the Council, to a vote of
the qualified voters of the City at a regular or special election
to be held on the next state uniform election date.
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When the Council receives an authorized referendum petition
certified by the City Secretary to be sufficient, the Council shall
reconsider the referred ordinance, and if upon such reconsideration
such ordinance is not repealed, it shall be submitted to the voters
at a special election to be held on the next state uniform election
date. Special elections on initiated or referred ordinances shall
not be held more frequently than once each six (6) months, and no
ordinance on the same subject as an initiated ordinance which has
been defeated at any election may be initiated by the voters within
two (2) years from the date of such election.
The ballot used in voting upon an initiated or referred ordinance
shall state the caption of the ordinance and below the caption shall
set forth on separate lines the words: “For the Ordinance”
and “Against the Ordinance.”
An initiated ordinance and an alternative ordinance proposed
by the Council which are submitted at the same election shall be appropriately
identified as the imprinted or referred ordinance and as the ordinance
proposed by the Council.
Any number of ordinances may be voted upon at the same election
in accordance with the provisions of this Article. An ordinance submitted
and receiving an affirmative majority of the votes cast, shall thereupon
be effective as an ordinance of the City. An ordinance so adopted
may be repealed or amended at any time after the expiration of two
(2) years by a four-fifths (4/5) vote of the Council. A referred ordinance
which is not approved by a majority of the votes cast shall be deemed
thereupon repealed.
The mayor and any Councilmember of this City may be recalled
and removed from office by the electors qualified to vote. Before
the question of recall of the mayor or a Councilmember shall be submitted
to the qualified voters of the City, a petition addressed to the City
Council demanding the recall of the Mayor or a Councilmember shall
first be filed with the City Secretary, which petition shall name
the Mayor or Councilmember whose removal is sought and contain a complete
statement of the grounds for which the removal is sought. A separate
petition shall be required for the Mayor and each Councilmember whose
removal is sought. The petition shall be signed by qualified voters
equal in number at least thirty percent (30%) of the number of qualified
voters who voted in the last mayoral election, demanding the removal
of a member of the City Council. The petition shall be signed in the
signer's own handwriting, and contain the signer's printed name, date
of birth, voter's registration number, residence address and the date
of signing. The petition shall be verified in the manner required
by the form prescribed below. Such petition shall contain a statement
of the specific acts of misfeasance and/or malfeasance for which the
removal is sought, and one of the signers of each petition shall make
an affidavit as prescribed below. The following form of petition and
acknowledgment is herein prescribed except as otherwise provided by
state law:
"By our signatures affixed hereto, we hereby affirm that we seek the recall of __________ who holds the elected office of __________, for the following specific grounds of misfeasance and/or malfeasance as prescribed in Article IV, Section 7 of the Charter of the City of DeSoto:
_____________________________________________________.
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And we further affirm that the information given below is true
and correct."
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Signers: ___________________________________________
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Voter Registration Number: ____________________________
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Residence Address: _________________________________
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Printed Name: _____________________________________
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Date of Birth: _____________________________________
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Signature: ________________________________________
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STATE OF TEXAS
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COUNTY OF DALLAS
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"BEFORE ME, the undersigned authority, personally appeared __________,
who after being duly sworn by me stated, upon his or her oath, that
he or she circulated the above petition, that he or she was personally
present when each of the above signatures was affixed thereto; and
that each person whose signature is affixed thereto affirmed to him
or her that the information provided by such person was true and correct.
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__________________________________
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SWORN AND SUBSCRIBED BEFORE ME this the _____ day of __________,
__________.
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____________________________
Notary Public, State of Texas"
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(Ordinance 2324-23 adopted 7/18/2023)
Within fifteen (15) days after the date of the filing of the
petition, the person performing the duties of City Secretary shall
examine the same and from the list of qualified voters ascertain whether
or not said petition is signed by the requisite number of qualified
voters. The City Secretary shall attach to said petition a certificate
showing the result of such examination. If by the Secretary's certificate
the petition is shown to be insufficient, it may be amended within
ten (10) days from the date of said certificate. The Secretary shall,
within ten (10) days after such amendment is filed, in the event one
is filed, make like examination of the said amended petition, and
if the certificate shall show the petition to be insufficient, it
shall not be further amended. If the petition is found to be sufficient,
the City Secretary shall within five (5) days or at the next regular
City Council meeting, whichever is later, submit it and the certificate
declaring the petition to be sufficient to the City Council, and notify
the affected Mayor or Councilmember sought to be recalled. The City
Council, in the event that the Mayor or Councilmember fails to resign,
shall order and set an election to be held on the earliest date allowed
by law following the submission of the certified petition to the City
Council.
(Ordinance 2324-23 adopted 7/18/2023)
Ballots used at recall elections shall conform to the following
requirements:
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With respect to each person whose removal is sought the question
shall be submitted[,] “Shall (Name) be removed from the office
of City Council?”
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Immediately below each such question there shall be printed
the two following propositions, one above the other, in the order
indicated:
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“For the recall of (Name)”
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“Against the recall of (Name)”
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If a majority of the votes cast at a recall election shall be
against removal of the individual named on the ballot, such member
of the City Council shall continue in office. If a majority of the
votes cast at such election be for the removal of the individual named
on the ballot, the Council shall immediately declare the individual's
office vacant and such vacancy shall be filled in accordance with
the provisions of state law and the Charter for the filling of such
vacancies. The individual thus removed shall not be a candidate to
fill the vacancy created by their removal in an election called to
fill the vacancy.
(Ordinance 2324-23 adopted 7/18/2023)
No recall petition shall be filed against the Mayor or any Councilmember
any officer of the City within three (3) months after such person's
election or appointment to the City Council and qualifying for office,
or within six (6) months after an election for such officer's recall,
and in no case within 3 months prior to the expiration of such person's
term of office.
(Ordinance 2324-23 adopted 7/18/2023)
Any five (5) registered voters may commence initiative, referendum or recall proceedings by first filing with the City Secretary an affidavit stating they will constitute the Petitioner’s Committee and be responsible for circulating the petition and filing it in a proper form, stating their names and addresses to which all notices to the committee are to be sent, and setting out in full the proposed initiative ordinance, citing in full the ordinance sought to be reconsidered or citing the recall ballot as per Section
9 herein. Promptly after the affidavit of the Petitioner’s Committee is filed, the City Secretary shall issue the appropriate petition blanks to the Petitioner’s Committee. A petition may be withdrawn at any time prior to the fifteenth (15th) day preceding the date scheduled for a vote by filing with the City Secretary a request for withdrawal signed by at least four members of the Petitioner’s Committee. Upon the filing of such request, the petition shall have no further force or effect and all proceedings thereon shall be terminated.