A. 
The legislative and governing body of the City shall be the “City Council of Cuero”. The members of the City Council shall be the Mayor and six other City Council Members.
B. 
The Mayor and two (2) other Council members shall be elected from the city at large by a plurality of the votes cast. One (1) Council member shall be elected from each of the four (4) single-member districts designated 1, 2, 3, and 4 on the City’s current posted map delineated and on file in the office of the City Secretary, by a plurality of the votes cast in such single-member district.
C. 
The two (2) at-large Council members shall be elected in odd numbered years. They shall not run or be elected by places. The ballot shall instruct voters that in the race for the at-large positions they may “vote for one (1) or two (2) candidates (vote por uno o dos candidatos)”.
D. 
Council members for single-member Districts Nos. 1 and 4 shall be elected in odd numbered years. Council members for single-member Districts Nos. 2 and 3 shall be elected in even numbered years. The Mayor shall be elected in even numbered years.
E. 
Each member of the City Council shall hold office for two (2) years and/or until his/her successor is elected and qualified.
1. 
Each member of the City Council, in addition to having other qualifications prescribed by law:
A. 
Shall be a qualified voter of the City.
B. 
Shall have resided for as at [sic] least one (1) year preceding his election within the corporate limits of Cuero; or shall have been a resident for a period of not less than one (1) year immediately preceding his election, of any territory not formerly within the corporate limits of said City, but which is annexed under the provision of Section 2.03 of this Charter. If elected at-large, shall maintain their primary residence within the corporate limits of the City of Cuero during his or her term of office. If elected for a single-member district, shall maintain their primary residence within the corporate limits of the City of Cuero and within the single-member district to which they are elected during his or her term of office. EXCEPTION: This residency requirement shall not apply in the event that a Council Member is required to move from his/her primary residence within the City or District due to an Act of God, any Federal Law, State Law or any order, rule or regulation of a governmental authority.
C. 
Shall not hold any other office or employment under the City Government while he/she is a member of said Council.
D. 
Shall not be an officer or director of any public service corporation within the City or without the City but serving inhabitants of the City, nor shall he/she be the owner or proprietor of any public service corporation in the City.
The City Council shall be the judge of the election and qualification of its own members and other elected officials of the City.
The Mayor shall receive as compensation for his/her services the sum of $500.00 per month and each Councilmember shall receive as compensation the sum of $200.00 per month. Such compensation shall be paid on the first day of each month.
The Mayor Pro-Tem shall be appointed by the Mayor from among the members of the Council and shall perform all duties of the Mayor in his/her absence or disability.
The processes for vacancies, forfeitures of office, and filling vacancies for Mayor and Councilpersons are as follows:
1. 
The office of a Councilperson or the Mayor shall become vacant upon their death, resignation, forfeiture of, or removal from office by any manner authorized by law.
2. 
Any member of the City Council or the Mayor shall automatically be deemed to have forfeited such office and shall be removed therefrom by a majority vote of the remaining members of the Council by resolution and enforced by the Council if that person:
A. 
ceases to possess the required qualifications for their office;
B. 
is convicted of a felony or of a misdemeanor involving moral turpitude;
C. 
fails to attend three (3) regularly scheduled council meetings at the beginning of each month without being excused by the Council; or
D. 
willfully and knowingly violates any express provision of this Charter.
3. 
If there is a declared vacancy in the office of Mayor, the Mayor Pro Tem shall assume that office until the office of Mayor is filled pursuant to sections 4 and 5 below.
4. 
In the event of a vacancy existing in the office of the Mayor or any Councilperson for any cause whatsoever, the remaining members of the City Council shall by a majority vote thereof, at the next regular meeting elect a member or members to fill the vacancy/vacancies thus existing, and such member or members so elected by the City Council shall serve in such position for the remainder of the unexpired term thereof.
5. 
In the event the City Council fails to elect a member to fill any vacancy on the Council on or before the close of the second regular scheduled meeting after such vacancy occurs, the Council shall lose its power to fill such vacancy and the vacancy shall be filled by the qualified voters in a regular or specially called municipal election on the next Uniform Election Date provided by State law.
All powers and authority which are expressly or impliedly, conferred on or possessed by the City shall be vested in and exercised by the Council; provided, however, that the Council shall have no power to, and shall not; accept or admit liability in, or pay any claim for damages asserted against the City without first obtaining a written opinion from the City Attorney regarding the City’s liability therein.
Neither the Council nor any of its members shall instruct or request the City Manager or any of his/her subordinates to appoint or to remove any person from office or employment. Except for the purpose of inquiry and investigations as set out in Section 3.14 the Council and its members shall deal with the administrative services of the City solely through the City Manager and shall not give orders to any of the Manager’s subordinates, either publicly or privately. The City Manager shall appoint and, when he/she deems it necessary for the good of the City, suspend or remove any City employees and appointive administrative officers provided for by or under this Charter, except as otherwise provided by law, this Charter, or personnel rules adopted pursuant to this Charter.
The City Council shall hold at least one (1) regular meeting in each month at a time to be fixed by it for such regular meetings and it may hold as many additional meetings as may be necessary to transact the business of the City. Special meetings of the Council may be called by the City Secretary upon the written request of the Mayor or of any two (2) members of the City Council. All meetings of the City Council shall be held at Council Chambers except that the City Council may designate another place for any such meeting and cause notice of such designation to be published prior to such meeting in one (1) issue of a newspaper of general circulation in the City of Cuero. All meetings of the City Council shall comply with the provisions of the State Open Meeting Law.
The City Council shall determine by ordinance its own rules of procedure and order of business. A majority of the members of the City Council shall constitute a quorum but no action of the City Council shall be of any force or effect unless it is adopted by the favorable votes of a majority of the entire Council. Minutes of all meetings of the Council, including the “ayes” and “nays” upon the passage of each ordinance and resolution, shall be taken and recorded and such minutes shall constitute a permanent record to which any citizen may have access at all reasonable times.
The Council shall legislate by ordinance, and the enacting clause of every ordinance shall be, “Be it ordained by the City Council of the City of Cuero.” The City Attorney shall approve all ordinances adopted by the Council, as to the legality thereof, or shall file with the City Secretary his/her written legal objections thereto. Evidence of approval of an ordinance by the City Attorney may be by notation on the ordinance itself, or by separate paper or instrument. Each ordinance enacted by the Council shall be signed by the Mayor, Mayor Pro-Tem, or by two (2) Councilmembers and shall be filed with and recorded by the City Secretary. All ordinances shall be read in open meeting of the City Council on two (2) separate meetings; provided that the two (2) readings required herein shall be sufficient if they are read by descriptive caption only; provided further, that the rule herein requiring ordinances be read on two (2) separate days shall be dispensed with for the purpose of adopting an emergency ordinance which may be adopted on consent of a majority of the entire Council. Unless otherwise provided by law or by this Charter, no ordinance shall become effective until the expiration of ten (10) days following the date of its final passage, except where an ordinance relating to the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety and containing a statement of the nature of the emergency is adopted as an emergency measure by a favorable vote of a majority of the entire Council.
Except as otherwise provided by law or by this Charter, the City Secretary shall give notice of the enactment of every penal ordinance and of every other ordinance required by law or by this Charter to be published, by causing the said ordinance, or its caption and penalty, to be published at least one (1) time within ten (10) days following the date of final passage thereof in some newspaper of general circulation within the City. The City Secretary shall note on every ordinance and on the record thereof the dates and medium of its publication, and such notation shall be prima facie evidence of compliance with the requirements of this section.
The City Manager, Director of Finance and such other City officers and employees as the City Council may require, shall, before entering upon the duties of their offices, enter into a good and sufficient corporate surety bond in the sum to be determined by State law or by the City Council. The bonds shall be payable to the City of Cuero and conditioned upon the faithful discharge of the duties of such persons and upon the faithful accounting of all monies, credits and things of value coming into the hands of such persons, and such bonds shall be signed as surety by a corporate surety bond company authorized to do business under the laws of the State of Texas, and the premium on such bonds shall be paid by the City of Cuero, and such bonds must be acceptable to the City Council. The City Council may also require new bonds at any time, if in its opinion, the existing bond on any employee is insufficient.
The City Council shall, as a body, have the power to inquire into the official conduct of any officer, department, agency, or employee of the City and to make investigations as to municipal affairs and for that purpose may subpoena witnesses, administer oaths and compel the production of books, papers, and other evidence material to the inquiry. The Council shall provide by ordinance penalties for contempt in failing or refusing to obey any such subpoena or to produce any such books, papers, or other evidence, and shall have the power to punish any such contempt in the manner provided by ordinance. Nothing in this section shall be construed to authorize any Council member individually to inquire into or investigate the official conduct of any office, department, agency, officer, or employee of the City or to investigate as to municipal affairs without the express authorization of a majority of the entire Council. In the event it is found by the City Council that a Council member has inquired into or investigated the official conduct of any office, department, agency, officer, or employee of the City or to investigate as to municipal affairs without the express authorization of a majority of the entire Council, then that Council member shall be deemed to have violated this provision of the Charter. The only exception to this provision would be an inquiry by a Council member for the sole purpose of obtaining information needed by them in the normal discharge of their duties, including response to constituent requests.
The City Council shall cause an annual audit to be made of the books and accounts of each and every department of the City. At the close of each fiscal year a complete audit shall be made by a Certified Public Accountant, who shall be selected by the City Council, and who shall have no personal interest, direct or indirect, in the fiscal affairs of the City Government or of any of its officers. Such audit shall include a recapitulation of all internal audits made during the course of each fiscal year, and all audit reports shall be filed with the City Council, shall be available for public inspection, and shall be made a part of the archives of the City. Such accountant, so selected, shall not maintain or keep any of the City’s accounts or records.