Initiative. The qualified voters of the
City shall have power to propose ordinances to the Council, except
ordinances appropriating money, levying of taxes, affecting zoning
or ordinances repealing ordinances, appropriating money or levying
taxes, and, if the Council fails to adopt an ordinance so proposed,
to adopt or reject it at a City election.
Referendum. The qualified voters of the
City shall have power to require reconsideration by the Council of
any adopted ordinance and if the Council fails to repeal an ordinance
so reconsidered, to approve or reject it at a City election. Such
power shall not extend to the budget, capital expenditure program,
any emergency ordinance, any ordinance relating to levy of taxes,
or to bonds issued pursuant to the authority of an election or elections
previously held.
Conflict. No initiative or referendum
action shall conflict with this Charter, the State constitution or
laws of the State of Texas.
Any five (5) qualified voters may commence initiative or referendum
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(es) to which
all notices to the committee are to be sent, and providing in full
the proposed initiative ordinance or citing the ordinance sought to
be reconsidered.
Immediately after the affidavit of the petitioners’ committee
is filed, the City Secretary shall issue the appropriate petition
blanks to the committee.
Number of Signatures. Initiative and
referendum petitions must be signed by qualified voters of the City
equal in number to at least twenty percent (20%) of the number of
votes cast in the last regular municipal election of the City or 250,
whichever is greater.
Form and Content. The format of the petition blanks shall be substantially the same as that for recall petition blanks provided for in Article
VIII.
Time for Filing Petitions. The petition
must be filed with the City Secretary within forty-five (45) days
of issuance of the petition blanks.
Certificate of City Secretary. The City
Secretary shall complete a certification as to the sufficiency of
the petition within ten (10) days after it is filed. Sufficiency shall
be based solely upon the timeliness of the petition submission(s)
and the required number of certified signatures.
Sufficient Petition, Final Determination. If the petition is certified sufficient, the City Secretary shall
present the certificate to the Council by the next regular Council
meeting and the certificate shall be final.
Insufficient Petition, Final Determination. If a petition is certified insufficient and the petitioners’
committee does not elect to amend or request Council review, the City
Secretary shall present a certificate to the Council by the next regular
Council meeting which shall be final.
Insufficient Petition, Appeal. If a petition
has been certified insufficient and the petitioners’ committee
does not file notice of intention to amend it, the committee may,
within two (2) working days after receiving notice of insufficiency,
file a request that it be reviewed by the Council. The Council shall
review the certificate at its next regular meeting following the filing
of such request and approve or disapprove it, and the determination
of Council shall then be final.
Insufficient Petition, Amending. A petition certified insufficient for lack of required number of valid signatures may be amended one (1) time if the petitioners’ committee files a notice of intention to amend with the City Secretary within two (2) working days after receiving notice of insufficiency and files a supplementary petition with additional names within two (2) weeks after receiving such notice. Such supplementary petition shall comply with the requirements of Section
9.03.
Within five (5) days after the amended petition is filed, the City Secretary shall complete a certificate as to the sufficiency of the petition as amended and shall within twenty-four (24) hours send a certificate to each member of the petitioners’ committee by registered mail as in the case of an original petition. The petition shall be determined in the same manner as prescribed for original petitions in Section
9.04.
(Ordinance 1117 adopted 2/28/13, prop. 26, approved at election of 5/11/13)
When a referendum petition is determined to be sufficient, the
ordinance sought to be reconsidered shall be suspended; and such suspension
shall continue until the Council repeals the ordinance or the ordinance
is upheld by election.
Action by Council. Within sixty (60)
days after the date the initiative or referendum petition has been
finally determined sufficient, the Council shall:
(1) Adopt
a proposed initiative ordinance without any change in substance.
(2) Repeal
a referred ordinance.
(3) Call an election on the proposed or referred ordinance as specified in Section
9.06.
Submission to Voters.The vote of the
City on a proposed or referred ordinance shall be held as soon as
possible in accordance with State election laws. Said election may
coincide with a regular City election should such City election fall
within the specified period. Special elections on initiated or referred
ordinances shall not be held more frequently than once each six (6)
months. No ordinance substantially the same as an initiated ordinance
which has been defeated shall be adopted by the Council within two
(2) years of the election. No referred ordinance which has been repealed
at any election may be adopted by the Council within two (2) years
from the date of such election. Copies of the proposed or referred
ordinance shall be made available at the polls.
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Publication of Proposed and Referred Ordinance. The City Secretary shall publish at least once in the official newspaper
of the City the proposed or referred ordinance within fifteen (15)
days prior to the election.
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Withdrawal. An initiative or referendum
petition may be withdrawn at any time prior to the time the petition
has been determined to be sufficient, by filing with the City Secretary
a request for withdrawal signed by at least four (4) members of the
petitioners’ committee. Upon the filing of such request, the
petition shall have no further force or effect and all proceedings
thereon shall be terminated.
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The ballots used when voting upon such proposed and referred
ordinances shall set forth their nature sufficiently to identify them
and shall also set forth upon separate lines the words “FOR
THE ORDINANCE” and “AGAINST THE ORDINANCE.”
Initiative. If a majority of the qualified
voters 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.
Repeal or Amendment of an Initiated Ordinance. An ordinance adopted by initiative may be repealed or amended at
any time after the expiration of two (2) years by an affirmative vote
of four (4) Councilmembers.
Referendum. If a majority of the qualified
voters on a referred ordinance vote against the ordinance, it shall
be considered repealed upon certification of the election results.
If a majority of the qualified voters voting on a referred ordinance
vote for the ordinance, it shall be considered in effect and the petition
shall become void.
Adoption of an Ordinance Repealed by Referendum. An ordinance repealed by referendum may be reenacted at any time
after the expiration of two (2) years by an affirmative vote of four
(4) Councilmembers.