The Mayor shall preside over all meetings of the City Council. He/She may participate in the discussion of all matters coming before the Council and shall be entitled to vote, but he/she shall have no veto power. If he/she and the Mayor pro tem are absent, an acting Mayor pro tem may be appointed to preside, as set forth in Section 14 of Article II above.
(Charter adopted 12/2/1957)
Petitions and remonstrances may be presented to the City Council either orally or in writing at any time by any citizen of the City. The City Council shall hold stated meetings at such times and places as they shall determine from time to time. The Mayor, on his/her own motion or on the application of any two Councilmembers, must call a special meeting by notice to each member of said Council, the Secretary-Manager and the City Attorney, such notice to be served personally or by registered or certified mail, return receipt requested.
(Charter adopted 12/2/1957)
The City Council shall have power to pass, publish, amend or repeal all ordinances, rules and police regulations not contrary to the Constitution or laws of this State, for the good government, peace and order of the City and the trade and commerce thereof, that may be necessary or proper to carry into effect the powers vested by this Charter in the City, the City government or in any department or office thereof; to enforce the observance of all such rules, ordinances and policy regulations, and to establish penalties for violations thereof; to appoint and to fix the compensation of all appointed officers and employees provided by this Charter, or hereafter provided for by ordinance.
(Charter adopted 12/2/1957; Ordinance 1415 adopted 2/13/2017, prop. 1, approved at election of 5/6/2017)
Any powers given to the City that are not specifically placed in the Mayor[,] Secretary-Manager or some other official, either by statutes or this Charter, shall be exercised in behalf of the City by the City Council. All powers so exercised shall be by ordinance or resolution duly passed.
(Charter adopted 12/2/1957; Ordinance 1415 adopted 2/13/2017, prop. 1, approved at election of 5/6/2017)
A quorum of the City Council for the transaction of business shall consist of three members. A number less than a quorum may adjourn from time to time and compel the attendance of absent members. If the Council is reduced to less than three members, on account of vacancies, the remaining members shall constitute a quorum for the sole purpose of calling an election as set out in Section 13, Article II hereof.
(Charter adopted 12/2/1957)
All meetings of the City Council shall be public in accordance with the Texas Open Meetings Act, and minutes of all proceedings shall be kept, to which any citizen may have access at all reasonable times and which shall constitute one of the archives of the City. The vote upon the passage of all ordinances and resolutions shall be taken by the "ayes" and "nays" and entered upon the minutes and every ordinance or resolution, upon its final passage shall be recorded in a book kept for that purpose and shall be authenticated by the signature of the presiding officer and the Secretary-Manager. Every ordinance hereafter adopted shall be systematically numbered and it shall only be necessary to record the number and caption or title of ordinances in the minutes of the Council meeting. Each member of the City Council present at any meeting shall be required to announce his/her vote upon each question, ordinance or resolution except on matters involving the consideration of his/her own official conduct or where his/her financial interests are involved, in which event, such member shall not vote but shall give his/her reason for not voting, and such reason shall be entered upon the minutes of the City Council.
(Charter adopted 12/2/1957; Ordinance 1415 adopted 2/13/2017, prop. 1, approved at election of 5/6/2017)
The style of all ordinances of the City shall be: "Be it ordained by the City Council of the City of TERRELL HILLS, TEXAS," but the same shall be omitted when the ordinances of the City are codified and published in book or pamphlet form by the City, or under the authority of its governing body.
(Charter adopted 12/2/1957)
All ordinances of the City now in existence and not inconsistent with the provisions of this Charter shall remain in full force and effect until altered, amended or repealed by the City Council.
(Charter adopted 12/2/1957)
Every ordinance imposing any penalty fine or forfeiture, shall, after passage thereof, be published in one issue of a newspaper that has been continuously circulated in the City for at least one year prior to such publication, or, in the alternative, the City Council may publish a descriptive caption or title stating in summary the purpose of the ordinance and penalty for violation thereof, as is provided in the Texas Local Government Code, and proof of such publication shall be made by the printer or publisher of such paper, making affidavit before some officer authorized by the law to administer oaths, and filed with the Secretary-Manager, and shall be prima facie evidence of such publication, and promulgation of such ordinance so published shall take effect and be in force from and after five days after the publication thereof, unless otherwise expressly provided. Ordinances not required to be published shall take effect and be in force from and after the passage thereof, unless otherwise provided. It shall not be necessary to the validity of any ordinance that it shall be read more than one time or considered at more than one session of the City Council, except in an ordinance granting a franchise.
(Charter adopted 12/2/1957; Ordinance 1415 adopted 2/13/2017, prop. 1, approved at election of 5/6/2017)
It shall be sufficient in all judicial proceedings to plead any ordinance of the City by caption without embodying the entire ordinance in the pleadings, and all pleaded ordinances or codes of ordinances shall be admitted in evidence in any suit and shall have the same force and effect as the original ordinance. Certified copies of the ordinances may also be used in evidence in lieu of original ordinances.
(Charter adopted 12/2/1957)
The Mayor or any member of the City Council shall be subject to recall and removal from office by the qualified electors of the City as in this Charter provided.
(Charter adopted 12/2/1957)
Before the question of recall of such officer shall be submitted to the qualified electors of the City, a petition demanding such question to be so submitted shall first be filed with the person performing the duties of Secretary-Manager, which said petition shall be signed by qualified voters of the City equal in number to at least 20% of the number of votes cast at the last regular municipal election of the City, but in no event less than 300 such petitioners. Each signer of such petitioners. [sic] Each signer of such recall petition shall personally sign his/her name thereto in ink or indelible pencil, and shall write after his/her name, his/her place of residence, giving name of street and number of place of residence, and shall also write thereon the day of the month and year his/her signature was affixed.
(Charter adopted 12/2/1957)
The recall petition mentioned above must be addressed to the City Council of the City of Terrell Hills and must distinctly and specifically point out the ground or grounds upon which such petition for removal is predicated, and if there be more than one ground, such as for incompetency, misconduct, or malfeasance in office, shall specifically state each ground with such certainty as to give the officer sought to be removed notice of the matters and things with which he/she is charged. The signatures shall be verified by oath in the following form:
"STATE OF TEXAS
COUNTY OF BEXAR
"I, ____________, being first duly sworn, on oath depose and say that I am one of the signers of the above petition; that the statements made therein are true, and that each signature appearing thereto was made in my presence on the day and date it purports to have been made, and I solemnly swear that the same is the genuine signature of the person whose name it purports to be.
"Sworn and subscribed to before me this ______day of ____________, 20__.
_____________________________________
Notary Public in and for Bexar County, Texas"
(Charter adopted 12/2/1957)
The petition may consist of one or more copies, or subscription lists, circulated separately, and the signatures thereto may be upon the paper, or papers containing the form of petition, or upon other papers attached thereto. Verification provided for in the next preceding section of this Article may be made by one or more petitioners, and the several parts, or copies of the petition may be filed separately and by different persons; but no signatures to such petition shall remain effective or be counted which were placed thereon more than thirty days prior to the filing of such petition or petitions with the person performing the duties of Secretary-Manager. All papers and documents comprising a single petition, that is, all papers comprising a recall petition, shall be filed with the person performing the duties of Secretary-Manager on the same day, and said Secretary-Manager shall immediately notify, in writing, the officer sought to be removed.
(Charter adopted 12/2/1957)
At the next regular meeting of the Council after the date of the filing of the papers constituting the recall petition, the person performing the duties of Secretary-Manager shall present such petition to the City Council of the City of Terrell Hills.
(Charter adopted 12/2/1957)
If the officer whose removal is sought, does not resign within five days after such recall petition shall have been duly presented to the City Council of the City of Terrell Hills, as provided in the next preceding section of this Article, then it shall become the duty of said Council to order an election and fix a date for holding such recall election and the date of the election shall be in accordance with the Texas Election Code.
(Charter adopted 12/2/1957; Ordinance 1415 adopted 2/13/2017, prop. 1, approved at election of 5/6/2017)
The form of ballot to be used at such recall election shall be as follows:
"Shall (name of person) be removed from the office of (name of office) by recall?"
Immediately following the above question there shall be provided on the ballot, in separate lines, in the order here set out, the words:
"FOR the recall of (name of person)"
"AGAINST the recall of (name of person)"
Should a majority of the votes cast at such recall election be for the recall of such officer named on the ballot, he/she shall be deemed removed from office. Should a majority of the votes cast at such recall election, however, be against the recall of the officer named on the ballot, such officer shall continue in office for the remainder of his/her term.
(Charter adopted 12/2/1957)
No recall petition shall be filed against any elective officer of the City of Terrell Hills within six months after his/her election, nor within six months following an election for such officer's recall.
(Charter adopted 12/2/1957)
In case all of the requirements of this Charter shall have been met and the City Council shall fail or refuse to receive the recall petition, or order such recall election, or discharge any other duties imposed upon said City Council by the provisions of this Charter with reference to such recall, then the County Judge of Bexar County, Texas, shall discharge any of such duties herein provided to be discharged by the City Council.
(Charter adopted 12/2/1957)
The Mayor and/or one or more Councilmembers may be recalled at the same election and, if in such recall election there shall, as a result of such election, remain the Mayor or one or more Councilmembers who are not recalled, then the Mayor, Councilmember or Councilmembers not recalled shall discharge all of the duties incumbent upon the governing body of said City until the vacancy or vacancies created at such recall elections are filled by an election for that purpose; but if in any proposed recall election it is proposed and submitted to recall all the members constituting said City Council, then there shall be submitted in the recall petition the names of candidates to fill the vacancies proposed to be created by such election and their names shall be placed upon the ballot; but the name of such officers proposed to be recalled shall not appear on the ballot as candidates.
(Charter adopted 12/2/1957)
If at any recall election it is not proposed and submitted to recall all of the members constituting said City Council, but only one or more and fewer than all, and such election shall result in favor of the recall of one or more of said officers proposed to be recalled, then it shall be the duty of the remaining member or members not recalled and constituting the governing body of the City, within five days after such election is held, to meet, canvass the returns, declare the result of the election, and on the same date order an election to fill such vacancy or vacancies; which election shall be held within not less than 30 or more than 60 days after the same shall have been ordered. No vacancy caused by recall shall be filled by the City Council of the City of Terrell Hills, but only by election.
(Charter adopted 12/2/1957)