Every ordinance or resolution, upon its becoming effective,
shall be recorded in a book kept for that purpose, and shall be authenticated
by the signature of the Mayor or Mayor Pro Tem and attested by the
City Secretary, as herein provided, which book and a duplicate copy
thereof shall be kept in a fire proof City depository. All public
records of every office, department, or agency of the City shall be
open to inspection by any citizen at all reasonable times, provided
that police records and vital statistics records, and any other records
closed to the public by law, shall not be considered public records
for the purposes of this Section.
No officer or employee of the City of Coleman shall have a financial
interest, direct or indirect, in any contract with the City, or be
financially interested, directly or indirectly, in the sale to the
City of any land, materials, supplies, or services, except on behalf
of the City as an officer or employee. Any knowing and willful violation
of this Section shall constitute malfeasance in office and any officer
or employee guilty thereof shall be removed from office or position.
Any violation of this Section with the knowledge, expressed or implied,
of the person or corporation contracting with the governing body of
the City shall render void the contract involved.
No person related within the second degree by affinity, or the
third degree of consanguinity to the Mayor, any member of the City
Council, or the City Manager, shall be appointed to any paid office,
position, clerkship, or other service of the City. This prohibition
shall not apply, however, to any person who shall have been employed
by the City prior to, and at the time of, the election of the Council
Members, or appointment of the City Manager, so related to them.
No officer or employee of the City of Coleman shall accept,
directly or indirectly, any gift, favor, privilege, or employment
from any public utility corporation enjoying a grant of any franchise
privilege or easement from said City, during the term of office of
such officer, or during the employment of such employee of the City,
except as may be authorized by law or ordinance. Any employee or officer
of the City who shall violate the provisions of this Section shall
be guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be punished by such fine as may
be prescribed by ordinance for this offense, and may be forthwith
removed from office.
All subcontractors, materialmen, mechanics, and laborers upon
any public works of the City of Coleman are hereby required to notify
the City of all claims they may have against the contractor on account
of such work. Subject to proof of payments by the said contractor,
and when such notice has been given, the City shall retain an amount
from any funds due the contractors, sufficient to satisfy such claims;
provided that such notice must be given at any time after such indebtedness
becomes due and before the City’s final settlement with the
contractor, and provided further that no contractor or subcontractor
shall issue any checks on, or an account of, any public works of said
City.
The City of Coleman shall not be held responsible on account
of any claim for damages to any person unless the person making such
complaint or claiming such damages shall, within ninety (90) days
after the time at which it is claimed such damages were inflicted
upon such person, file with the City Secretary, a true statement under
oath as to the nature and character of such damages or injuries, the
extent of the same, and the place where same happened, the circumstances
under which same happened, the conditions causing same, with a detailed
statement of each item of damages and the amount thereof. If it be
for personal injuries, give a list of the witnesses, if any known
to affiant, who witnessed such accident.
The property, real and personal, belonging to said City, shall
not be liable to be sold or appropriated under a writ of execution
or cost bill, nor shall the funds belonging to said City in the hands
of any person, be liable to garnishment on account of any debt the
City may owe or funds the City may have on hand due any person. Neither
shall any of its officers or agents be required to answer any writ
on garnishment on any account whatsoever, nor shall said City be liable
to the assignee of any wages of any officer, agent, or employee of
said City, whether earned or unearned, upon any claim or account whatsoever,
and any such attempted assignment shall be absolutely void as to the
City.
The governing body of the City of Coleman shall require sufficient
payment and performance bonds of all contractors, with a good corporate
surety thereon, acceptable to the governing body of the City of Coleman.
The City of Coleman shall have the power to control or prohibit
construction of pools, ponds, or lakes, receiving water from a recognizable
stream, creek, branch, or natural drainage. The City may control location,
construction, height of structure, depth and size of body of water
to be impounded. No pool, pond, or lake receiving water from a recognizable
stream, creek, branch, or natural drainage, shall be constructed without
first obtaining a permit issued by the City.
In addition to any bonding provisions herein provided, the Council
shall require not less than $25,000 for the Tax Collector, and may
require any City official, department director or City employee, before
entering upon their duties, to execute a good and sufficient bond
with a surety company doing business in the State of Texas, and approved
by the Council. As surety thereon, said bond shall be in such amount
as Council may demand, payable to the City of Coleman, and conditioned
for the faithful performance of the duties of their office; premium
of such bond to be paid by the City.
If any Section or part of a Section of this Charter is held
to be invalid or unconstitutional by a court of competent jurisdiction,
such invalidity shall not invalidate or impair the validity, force,
or effect of any other Section or part of a Section of this Charter.
In the wording of the Charter, the use of the singular number
shall include the plural, and the plural shall include the singular.
Words used in the masculine gender shall include the feminine also,
unless by reasonable construction it appears that such was not the
intention of this Charter.
This Charter shall not be construed as a mere grant of enumerated
powers, but shall be construed as a general grant of power and as
a limitation of power on the government of the City of Coleman in
the same manner as the Constitution of Texas is construed as a limitation
on the powers of the Legislature. Except where expressly prohibited
by this Charter, each and every power under Article 11, Section 5
of the Constitution of Texas, which it would be competent for the
Citizens of the City of Coleman to grant expressly to the City, shall
be construed to be granted to the City by the Charter.
No property of any kind, church, school, or otherwise, in the
City shall be exempt from any of the special taxes and assessments
authorized by this Charter for local improvements unless the exemption
is required by State law.
No member of the City Council shall be individually liable or
accountable for damages as a result of any actions taken by the member
in performance of official duties.
The Council shall have the power, by ordinance, to renumber
and rearrange all Articles, Sections, and paragraphs of the Charter
or any amendments thereto, as it shall deem appropriate. Upon passage
of any such ordinance, a copy thereof certified by the City Secretary,
shall be forwarded to the Secretary of State for filing.
This Charter, if adopted, shall become effective from and after
the votes cast, at the election at which it is submitted to the voters,
shall have been counted, and the result of said election declared,
and an order or ordinance shall have been entered upon the records
of the City Council declaring it adopted.