The municipal government of the City shall consist of the City Council, which shall be composed of five councilpersons, and a Mayor of the City, and these shall be the only elective officers of the City.
The Mayor and each Councilperson shall serve for a term of two years and until his or her successor is elected and qualified.
If no more than one vacancy on the City Council exists, a majority of the remaining members of the City Council may fill such vacancy by appointment, such appointee to serve until the next regular City election; provided, however, in filling such vacancy, the Mayor, if any, shall have a vote only in the event of a tie. In lieu of filling one vacancy on the City Council by appointment, a special election may be called to fill such vacancy. If two or more vacancies on the City Council exist at the same time, a special election shall be called to fill such vacancies. In the event the office of Mayor be vacant, the Mayor Pro Tem shall act as Mayor until the next regular City election. When the Council member who is Mayor Pro Tem becomes Mayor, his office of councilperson shall become vacant and shall be filled as herein provided.
The Mayor and each councilperson shall be residents of the City of Giddings and have the following qualifications:
(a) 
Must be a citizen of the United States.
(b) 
Must be a qualified voter of the State of Texas.
(c) 
Must have resided at least twelve (12) months next preceding the election within the corporate limits of the City of Giddings.
(d) 
Must be at least twenty-one (21) years of age.
(e) 
Must not be in arrears in payment of taxes or other liabilities due the City of Giddings.
(f) 
Must not have been convicted of a felony.
(g) 
Must not be disqualified by reason of any provision of any other section of this Charter.
No member of the City Council, the Mayor, or any other officer, whether elected, appointed, paid or unpaid, who exercises responsibilities beyond those that are advisory in nature, shall participate in a vote or decision on a matter involving a business entity or real property in which such officer has a substantial interest, as defined by State Law.
(Amended by Ordinance 663 at an election held on May 12, 2012, prop. 1)
Any officer or employee of the City, who shall cease to possess any of the qualifications herein required, shall forfeit his or her office or position. The Mayor, City Councilpersons, officers and City employees may be members of the Volunteer Fire Department of the City and receive such compensation as the City Council may provide.
The regular City election will be held annually on the Uniform Election Date prescribed by the Texas Election Code. The Mayor and two Councilpersons shall be elected in an even-numbered year. The remaining three Councilpersons shall be elected at an election of every odd-numbered year.
(Amended by Ordinance 663 at an election held on May 12, 2012, prop. 2)
The Council shall make all regulations which it considers needful or desirable, not inconsistent with the Charter or the laws of the State of Texas, for the conduct of municipal elections, for the prevention of fraud in such elections and for the recount of ballots in case of doubt or fraud. Municipal elections shall be conducted by the regular election authorities appointed by the Council who shall also have power to make such regulations not inconsistent with this Charter, with any regulations made by the Council or the laws of the State of Texas.
The names of all candidates for Mayor or the Council as hereinbefore provided, except such as may be withdrawn, died or become ineligible shall be printed on the official ballots without party designations and no other descriptive items shall be shown, except, if two candidates with the same surnames or with names so similar as to be likely to cause confusion are nominated, the addresses of their places of residence shall be placed with their names on the ballot. The order of the names on the ballot shall be determined by lot.
At the time of the adoption of this Charter the method of electing the Mayor and Councilpersons will be by a plurality vote without a run-off election; that is, those candidates for the offices of Mayor and Councilpersons receiving the greatest number of votes cast in such election shall be declared elected.
All City elections shall be governed, except as otherwise provided by Charter, by the laws of the State of Texas governing general and municipal elections, so far as same may be applicable thereto; and in the event there should be any failure of the general laws or this Charter to provide for some feature of the City election, then the City Council shall have the power to provide for such deficiency, and no informalities in conducting a City election shall invalidate the same, if it be conducted fairly and in substantial compliance with the general laws, where applicable, and the Charter; and ordinances of the City.
Returns of the elections, general and special, shall be made by the election officers to the City Council in accordance with State law.
(Amended by Ordinance 823 at an election held on May 15, 2017, ex. B, sec. I)
The monthly salary of the Mayor shall not exceed one hundred fifty dollars ($150.00); the monthly salary of each Councilperson shall not exceed seventy-five dollars ($75.00).
The following officers shall be appointed by the City Council to serve until removed from office by a majority vote of the City Council: City Manager and Municipal Judge. Additional officers, departments, deputies or assistants may be appointed by the Council as shall be deemed necessary by it. Any two or more of such offices may be combined by the Council if necessary or expedient. Such officers shall perform the duties delegated to such officer by ordinance of the Council and make such reports as may be requested.