The citizens of the City of Coleman reserve the power of direct legislation by initiative, and in the exercise of that power, may propose any ordinances not in conflict with this Charter, the State Constitution, or the State laws, except on ordinance appropriating money or authorizing the levy of taxes; or an ordinance repealing an ordinance appropriating money, levying taxes; or an ordinance involving zoning or annexation. Any initiated ordinance may be submitted to the Council by a petition signed by registered qualified voters of the City of Coleman, equal in number to at least thirty (30%) percent of the number of votes cast at the last regular municipal election of the City; or such petition must be signed by one hundred (100) registered qualified voters, whichever is greater.
The citizens reserve the power to approve or reject at the polls any legislation enacted by a Council which is subject to the initiative process under this Charter, except an ordinance which is enacted for the preservation of the public peace, health, or safety which contains a statement of its urgency. Prior to the effective date of an ordinance which is subject to referendum, a petition signed by registered qualified voters of the City, equal in number to at least thirty (30%) percent of the number of votes cast at the last regular municipal election of the City, or signed by one hundred (100) registered qualified voters, whichever is greater, may be filed with the City Secretary requesting that such ordinance be either repealed or submitted to a vote of the people.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 specified in the petition shall not go into effect, or further action thereunder shall be suspended if it shall have gone into effect, until and unless it is approved by the voters, as herein provided.
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 all be appended to one paper, but each signer shall sign their name in ink or indelible pencil, shall add their signature and place of residence by street and number, and their voter registration number. One of the signers of each separate paper petition shall make an affidavit that he/she, and he/she only, personally circulated such petition and that signatures appended thereto were made in his/her presence and are the genuine signatures of the persons whose names they are purported to be; and further, that no signature shall have been placed thereon prior to forty-five (45) days of the filing of such petition.
Within ten (10) business days after an initiative or referendum petition is filed, the City Secretary shall determine whether the same is signed by the requisite number of registered voters. The City Secretary shall declare void any petition paper which does not have an affidavit attached thereto, as required by Section 4.03 of this Article. In examining the petitions, the City Secretary shall write the letters “D.V.” in red ink opposite the names of signers found not registered to vote. After completing examination of the petition, the City Secretary shall certify the results thereof to the Council at its next regular meeting, stating the number of persons found on the petition who are registered to vote and the number of persons found on the petition who are not registered to vote. If the certificate of the City Secretary shall show an initiative or referendum petition to be insufficient, the City Secretary shall notify the person filing the petition, and it may be amended within ten (10) business days from the date of such notice by filing a supplementary petition; upon receipt of additional papers signed and filed, as provided for in the original petition. Within ten (10) business days after such amendment is filed, the City Secretary shall examine the amended petition and certify as to its sufficiency. If the amended 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 amended 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.
When the Council receives an authorized initiative petition certified by the City Secretary to be sufficient, the Council shall either:
(a) 
Pass the initiated ordinance, without amendment, within thirty (30) days after the date of the certification to the Council; or
(b) 
Submit said initiated ordinance, without amendment, to a vote of the registered voters of the City at a regular or special election to be held on the first uniform election date authorized by law; or
(c) 
At such election, submit to a vote of the registered voters of the City said initiated ordinance without amendment, and an alternative ordinance on the same subject proposed by the Council.
When the Council receives an authorized referendum petition certified by the City Secretary to be sufficient, the Council shall reconsider the referred ordinance. 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 first uniform election date authorized by law. No ordinance on the same subject as the 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 initiated 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 vote of four (4) members of the City Council. A referred ordinance which is not approved by a majority of the votes cast shall be deemed thereupon repealed.
The citizens of the City reserve the power to recall any member of the Council, and may exercise such power by filing with the City Secretary a petition, signed by registered qualified voters of the City equal in number to at least thirty (30%) percent of the number of votes cast at the last regular municipal election of the City, or by one hundred (100) registered qualified voters, whichever is greater, demanding the removal of a member of the City Council. The petition shall be signed and 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 paper shall make an affidavit as prescribed below. The following form of petition and acknowledgement is herein prescribed:
“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, under the procedures prescribed in Article 4, Section 4.07 of the Charter of the City of Coleman:
“And, we further affirm that the information given below is true and correct:”
Voter Registration Number
Printed Name
Address
Signature
STATE OF TEXAS
}
 
 
COUNTY OF COLEMAN
}
 
 
“BEFORE ME, the undersigned authority, personally appeared __________, who, after being duly sworn by me stated, upon their oath, that they circulated the above petition; that he/she was personally present when each of the above signatures was affixed thereto; and that ach person whose signature is affixed thereto affirmed that the information provided by them was true and correct.
SWORN TO AND SUBSCRIBED BEFORE ME this the __________day of__________, __________.
_________________________
Notary Public, State of Texas
My Commission Expires:”
_________________________
Within fifteen (15) days after the date of filing the papers constituting the recall petition, the person performing the duties of City Secretary shall verify the signatures on the petition and then present such petition to the Council.
The officer whose removal is sought may, after such recall petition has been presented to the Council, request in writing to the Council at the next regular meeting, a public hearing to be held to permit the presentation of facts pertinent to the charges specified in the recall petition. In this event, the Council shall order such public hearing to be held not less than five (5) days, nor more than fifteen (15) days, after receiving such request for a public hearing.
If the officer whose removal is sought does not resign, then it shall become the duty of the Council to order an election and fix a date for holding such recall election. The date of such election shall be held at the earliest date as permitted by State Law.
Ballots used at recall elections shall conform to the following requirements:
(a) 
With respect to each person whose removal is sought, the question shall be submitted “Shall (Name) be removed from the office of City Council Person or Mayor?”
(b) 
Immediately below each such question there shall be printed the two following propositions, one above the other, in the order indicated:
“For the recall of (Name)”
“Against the recall of (Name)”
If a majority of the votes cast at a recall election shall be against removal of the individual named on the ballot, the person 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 office vacant and such vacancy shall be filled in accordance with the provisions of the Charter for the filing of vacancies. An individual thus removed shall not be a candidate to succeed that same individual in an election called to fill the vacancy thereby created.
No recall petition shall be filed against any officer of the City within six (6) months after election. No officer shall be subjected to more than one (1) recall during a single term of office. No recall petition shall be filed against any officer within six (6) months of the expiration of the term of office.