The municipal government of the city shall consist of the city commission which shall be composed of five commissioners, one of whom shall be mayor of the city.
The mayor and each commissioner, shall serve for a term of two years and until his successor is elected and qualified unless sooner removed from office as herein provided.
Vacancies in the commission shall be filled by appointment by the majority of the remaining commission members, including the mayor, and such appointed person(s) shall serve until the next regular municipal election.
(Ordinance 1702, sec. II (exh. A, chtr, amd. 2), adopted 2/14/17)
The mayor and each commissioner shall be a resident citizen of the city, and have the qualifications of electors therein. The mayor, commissioners and other officers and employees shall not be indebted to the city; shall not hold any other public office of emolument and shall not be interested in the profits or emoluments of any contract, job, work, or service for the municipality, or interested in the sale to the city of any supplies, equipment, material or articles purchased; nor shall either of them be the owner of stock in any public utility or public service corporation within the city, nor in the employ of any owner of stock in public utility or public service corporation. Any officer or employee of the city who shall cease to possess any of the qualifications herein required shall forfeit his office or position, and any contract in which any officer or employee shall or may become interested, may be declared void by the commission. No officer or employee of the city shall accept any frank, free ticket, pass, or service, or anything of value, directly or indirectly, from any person, firm or corporation, upon terms more favorable than are granted to the public, and any violation of this section shall be a misdemeanor, and on conviction thereof, such office or employment shall be forfeited.
The commission may require, however, by ordinance, all streetcar companies operating within the city limits to provide free transportation to policemen and firemen in uniform or wearing a badge, and may require all proprietors of theaters, moving picture shows and other places of public amusement, to admit without charge, all policemen in the employ of the city.
Editor’s note–The last paragraph of this section is of course inapplicable in the matter of streetcars, and the enforceability of the other provision is problematical.
The elective officers of the city shall consist of a mayor and four commissioners. The commissioners other than the mayor shall be designated as Commissioner No. 1, Commissioner No. 2, Commissioner No. 3, and Commissioner No. 4, each of whom shall be elected to the office for which he is a candidate by a majority vote of the qualified voters of the city at large, voting at such election, provided that Commissioner No. 1 and Commissioner No. 3 shall be resident citizens of West Vernon and Commissioner No. 2 and Commissioner No. 4 shall be resident citizens of East Vernon; and provided further that at the first election held after the adoption of this charter, Commissioner No. 1, and Commissioner No. 2 shall be elected for a term of two years, and that Commissioner No. 3 and Commissioner No. 4 shall be elected for a term of one year.
The following line in the city shall be the dividing line between East Vernon and West Vernon: Beginning at the North Boundary Line of the City of Vernon at its intersection with a Northern extension of the center line of Bentley Street; Southerly down the extension of Bentley Street to Bentley Street continuing Southerly on Bentley Street to the intersection of the East bound Frontage Road to US Highway 287; Easterly along Frontage Road to Ross Street; Southerly on Ross Street to Texas Street; Easterly on Texas Street to Tolar Street; Southerly on Tolar Street to Highland Park Drive; Westerly on Highland Park Drive to Stephens Street; Southerly on Stephens Street and a line extending from the center line of Stephens Street to its intersection with the Southern Boundary Line of the City of Vernon.
All that portion of the city lying east of that line is hereby designated and shall be known as East Vernon and all that portion of the city lying West of that line is hereby designated and shall be known as West Vernon.
(Ordinance 1344, sec. 1, adopted 9/28/99)
Should no candidate receive a majority of votes at the election for the office for which he is a candidate, the governing authority shall immediately order a special election as set out in the state law governing elections, at which special election the names only of the two candidates receiving the highest number of votes at said former election, for the office for which they were candidates, shall be printed on the ballot and submitted to the qualified voters for election, and the candidate receiving the majority of votes at such special election, for the place or office for which he was a candidate, shall be declared elected.
(Ordinance 1538, sec. 1 (exh. A, chtr, amd. 12), adopted 2/8/10)
The governing authority shall be the judge of the election and the qualifications of its members, provided that state law shall govern such provisions.
(Ordinance 1538, sec. 1 (exh. A, chtr, amd. 13), adopted 2/8/10)
All elections in this city shall meet all requirements of state law governing dates for canvassing votes and declaring results.
(Ordinance 1538, sec. 1 (exh. A, chtr, amd. 14), adopted 2/8/10)
The regular municipal election of the city shall meet the requirements of state law governing uniform election dates, with the City elections to be held on the Uniform Election Date in May or the closest thereto.
(Ordinance 1538, sec. 1 (exh. A, chtr, amd. 15), adopted 2/8/10)
All elections in this city shall meet all requirements of state law governing uniform election dates.
(Ordinance 1538, sec. 1 (exh. A, chtr, amd. 16), adopted 2/8/10)
The commission shall enact all ordinances and resolutions and adopt all regulations; and constitute the legislative and governing body of the city, with all the powers and authority herein granted.
The mayor of the city shall be the presiding officer of the commission. He shall vote as a member of the commission on all matters coming before the body; sign all bonds, warrants and other official documents; be the official head of the city, and exercise all powers and perform all duties imposed upon him by this charter, and by the ordinances of the city, and the resolutions of the commission.
At the first meeting of each new commission or as soon thereafter as practicable, one of the commissioners shall be [elected] mayor pro tempore, who shall hold his office for one year. In case of the failure, inability or refusal of the mayor to act, the mayor pro tempore shall perform the duties and receive the fees and compensation of the mayor.
Not earlier than the third day or later than the sixth day after the election of the commission has been declared, the commission shall meet at the time set by the mayor in the council [commission] chamber of the city hall, at which time the commissioners shall qualify and assume the duties of their offices. Thereafter the commissioners shall meet at such time as may be prescribed by ordinance or resolution, but they shall meet at least once each month. The mayor or other four commissioners may call special meetings of the commission at any time deemed advisable. The commission shall determine its own rules and order of business and shall keep a journal of its proceedings in a permanently bound book, and any citizen shall have access to the minutes and records thereof at all reasonable times.
Editor’s note–The day and time of the first commission meeting following the declaration of the election of the commission has been changed to accommodate the provisions of the Texas Election Code. Formerly the first meeting following the declaration of the commission was scheduled for ten o’clock on the first Monday after the election.
The mayor shall receive as compensation for his service from and after the adoption of this amendment, the sum of twelve hundred dollars per annum, payable in monthly installments of one hundred dollars each, as the same shall accrue.
Each commissioner shall receive three hundred dollars per annum, payable in monthly installments of twenty-five dollars each, as the same shall accrue, provided the city commission shall have the power by ordinance, duly enacted, at any time before the commencement of a term, to reduce the salary of the mayor or, and of the commissioners; provided further, that the mayor or either commissioner shall forfeit five dollars of his salary if absent from any regular meeting of the commission, unless such absence from the meeting is unavoidably necessitated in the service of such officer on business of the city away from the city, or by the sickness of such officer, at the time the meeting is held.
(Amd. adopted 12/31/34)
Any three members of the commission shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of any business, and the affirmative vote of three members of the commission shall be sufficient and necessary to adopt or repeal any ordinance or resolution. The vote upon the passage or repeal of any ordinance or resolution shall be taken by “Yea” and “Nay” vote, and entered upon the journal. All members of the commission present shall vote upon every question, ordinance or resolution. Any commissioner refusing to vote shall be entered on the journal as voting in the affirmative.
Every ordinance or resolution passed by the commission shall be signed by the mayor, and attested by the person acting as city secretary, and the seal of the city impressed thereon within two days after its passage.
Each proposed ordinance or resolution shall be introduced in written or printed form, shall not contain more than one subject, which shall be clearly stated in the title, but general appropriation ordinances may contain the various subjects and accounts for which moneys are to be appropriated.
(Ordinance 1702, sec. II (exh. A, chtr, amd. 4), adopted 2/14/17)
An emergency measure is an ordinance or resolution for the immediately preservation of the public peace, property, health, or safety, or providing for the usual daily operation of a municipal department, in which the emergency is set forth and defined in a preamble thereto. Ordinances appropriating money and ordinances for the payment of salaries and wages may be passed as emergency measures, but no measure making a grant, renewal or extension of a franchise, or other special privilege of regulating the rate to be charged for its services by any public utility, shall ever be passed as an emergency measure.
(Ordinance 1538, sec. 1 (exh. A, chtr, amd. 17), adopted 2/8/10)
All ordinances carrying a penalty shall be published once a week for two consecutive weeks in some newspaper published in the city, and no such ordinance shall become effective until ten days after the date of its last publication, provided that emergency measures shall take effect according to their terms.
Every ordinance, or resolution, upon its becoming effective shall be recorded in a permanently bound book kept for that purpose and shall be authenticated by the signatures of the mayor and the person exercising the duties of city secretary.
The commission shall, or any citizen may, investigate the financial transactions of any office or department of the city government, and the acts and conduct of any official or employee. In conducting such investigation, the commission may compel the attendance of witnesses, the production of books and papers, and other evidence, and for that purpose may issue subpoenas or attachments which shall be signed by the mayor, and which may be served and executed by an officer authorized by law to serve subpoenas or other process, or any peace officer of the city. If any witness shall refuse to appear or testify to any facts within his knowledge, or to produce any papers or books in his possession or under his control, relating to the matter under investigation before the commission, the commission shall have the power to cause the witness to be punished as for contempt, not to exceed a fine of one hundred dollars. No witness shall be excused from testifying, testing his knowledge of the matter under investigation in any such inquiry, but such testimony shall not be used against him in any criminal prosecution, except for perjury committed upon such inquiry.
Editor’s note–Ordinance 1702, sec. II (exh. A, chtr, amd. 5), adopted February 14, 2017, repealed Art. IX, sec. 9.23, which pertained to contracts for personal services limited, and derived from the compilation of the 1916 home rule charter and amendments prepared in 1963.
The governing authority shall create and consolidate such appointive officers (offices), and may divide the administration of the city’s affairs into such departments, as they may deem advisable, and may discontinue any such appointive office or department except the office of the recorder.
Editor’s note–Independent school district now divorced from city government, sec. 6.1.
(Ordinance 1538, sec. 1 (exh. A, chtr, amd. 18), adopted 2/8/10)
The governing authority shall fix and determine the salaries and wages of all appointive officers and employees of the city, unless otherwise provided in this Charter, and shall provide for the payment thereof.
No warrant for the payment of any claims shall be issued by the city, unless such claim shall be evidenced by an itemized account approved by and audited and allowed by the governing authority at a regular meeting, and all warrants shall be signed by the mayor, or his designated agent, and countersigned by the person acting as secretary, or their designated agent.
(Ordinance 1538, sec. 1 (exh. A, chtr, amd. 19), adopted 2/8/10)
Accounting procedure shall be devised and maintained for the city, adequate to record in detail all transactions affecting the acquisition, custodianship and disposition of anything of value, including cash receipts, credit transactions and disbursements, and the recorded facts shall be presented periodically to the governing authority and to the public in such summaries and analytical schedules in detailed support thereof as shall be necessary to show the full effect of such transactions of each fiscal year upon the finances of the city and in relation to each department of the city government, including distinct summaries and schedules for each public utility owned and operated.
The governing authority shall cause a continuous audit of the books of account, and of all records and transactions of the administration of the affairs of the city; such audit shall be made annually embracing each fiscal year and shall be made by a capable accountant. The duty of said accountant shall include the certification of all statements required in section 9.27 of this article; such statements shall include a general balance sheet showing summaries of income and expenditures, and also comparisons, in proper classification with the last previous audit; such summaries shall be published in some newspaper published in the city, one time, within ten days after the completion of such audit.
All contracts for public printing, public improvements and public works of every kind and character, and the purchase of supplies for use in any department of the city, shall be let on sealed competitive bids, as provided by state law or city ordinance, whichever is less.
(Ordinance 1538, sec. 1 (exh. A, chtr, amd. 20), adopted 2/8/10)
No person related within the fourth degree by affinity, or consanguinity, to the mayor or to either [any] of the commissioners, shall be appointed to any office, position, clerk-ship or service of the city.
Eight hours shall constitute a day’s work for all laborers, workmen, or mechanics who may be employed by or on behalf of the city, in any one calendar day, where such employment, contract or work is for the purpose of construction, repairing or improving buildings, bridges, streets, avenues, alleys, highways, or other public improvements of similar character, requiring the service of laborers, workmen or mechanics.
The person exercising the duties of city tax collector, and the person performing the duties of custodian of city funds, shall each give official bonds in such sums as may be prescribed by the commission from time to time, such bonds shall be payable to the city and shall, in each instance, be conditioned for the faithful discharge of the duties of such officer and for the faithful accounting of all moneys, claims and things of value coming into the hands of such officer. Such bonds shall be procured from some regular accredited surety company or companies, authorized to do business under the laws of the state, and the premiums to such surety companies shall be paid by the city, provided that the commission may, by ordinance, require official bonds from any other appointive officers of the city in such amounts and conditioned as they may deem best for the efficiency of the public service. All official bonds shall be approved by the commission and filed and recorded with the person exercising the duties of city secretary.
Every officer of the city shall, before entering upon the duties of his office, take and subscribe to the oath prescribed by the constitution of the state.
The city commission shall be required to deposit all the proceeds of sale from the sale of the city’s electric light and power system remaining after payment of the amounts required to discharge outstanding obligations payable, in whole or in part, from the revenue of said system and expenses incurred in connection with the sale thereof to a special fund, and, unless authorized by a special election duly called and held to authorize the expenditure thereof for any permanent public improvement, the proceeds of sale deposited to the credit of such special fund shall not be expended or withdrawn therefrom for any purpose. The proceeds of sale deposited in the special fund shall be invested only in securities or obligations which under the general laws of the State of Texas qualify for the investment of moneys held in an interest and sinking fund of a city established for the payment of debt obligations. Twenty-five percent (25%) of any earnings and profits realized from the investment of moneys held to the credit of said special funds shall be retained in said special fund and reinvested in qualified securities or obligations as provided for the original proceeds of sale and the balance of any earnings or profits may be transferred to the credit of the general fund or capital asset fund of the city and expended for any permanent public improvements.
(Resolution 520, sec. 3, adopted 4/9/84)