The legislative and governing powers of the City of Mercedes shall be vested in a Commission, which shall consist of a Mayor and four Commissioners, to be known as the City Commission.
Only qualified voters of the City shall be eligible for election to the City Commission.
The Mayor and the other members of the City Commission shall be elected from the City at large.
Terms of each shall extend three (3) years[.]
No person shall serve more than three (3) consecutive terms on the Mercedes City Commission.
The Mayor shall be a member of the City Commission and may vote on all matters coming before that body, but shall have no veto power. He shall preside at meetings of the Commission, shall be recognized as head of the city government for all ceremonial purposes and by the governor for purposes of military law, but shall have no administrative duties. The City Commission shall elect from among its members a Mayor Pro-Tem, who shall act as Mayor during the absence or disability of the Mayor.
The City Commission shall determine the stipend of the Mayor and City Commissioners by ordinance, but no ordinance increasing such stipend shall become effective until the date of commencement of the terms of the Mayor or City Commissioners elected at the next regular election, provided that such election follows the adoption of such ordinance by at least six months. The Mayor and City Commissioners shall receive their actual and necessary expenses incurred in the performance of their duties of office, except they shall not be reimbursed for their time, other than as provided above in this section.
All powers of the City shall be vested in the City Commission, except as otherwise provided by law or this Charter, and the City Commission shall provide for the exercise thereof and for the performance of all duties and obligations imposed on the City by law.
Except where authorized by law, no Mayor or City Commissioner may hold any other City office, city employment or compensated position with any other City-funded entity during the term for which he was elected nor shall any City Commissioner benefit financially from any referrals or recommendations made by or through the City. No former Mayor or City Commissioner shall hold any compensated appointive office of the City or any City employment until one year after the term to which he was elected to the City Commission has expired, except as noted in Section 3.01.
Also, neither the City Commission nor any of its members shall in any manner dictate the appointment or removal of any City administrative officers or employees whom the City Manager or any of his subordinates are empowered to appoint, but they may discuss such appointments and removals at times and places where such discussions are permitted by law.
And, except for the purpose of investigations under Section 2.09, the City Commission or its members shall deal with City officers and employees who are subject to the supervision of the City Manager solely through the City Manager, and neither the City Commission nor its members shall give any order to any such officer or employee, either publicly or privately.
[A.] 
VACANCIES:
The office of a City Commissioner or Mayor shall become vacant upon his death, resignation, removal from office in any manner authorized by law or forfeiture of his office.
[B.] 
FORFEITURES:
A City Commissioner or Mayor shall forfeit his office if he (1) lacks at any time during his term of office any qualification for the office prescribed by the Charter or by law, (2) violates any express prohibition of this Charter, (3) is convicted of a crime involving moral turpitude, or (4) fails to attend three consecutive regular meetings of the City Commission without being excused by the City Commission, and said absence shall be excused only by a majority vote of the City Commission at the meeting from which the Commissioner or Mayor is absent, or at the next regular meeting.
[C.] 
FILLING OF VACANCIES:
A vacancy in the City Commission shall be filled for the remainder of the unexpired term by election at the next available uniform election date provided by State law; provided that if the unexpired term shall be one (1) year or less, the City Commission may choose to fill such vacancy by appointment.
The City Commission shall be the judge of the election and qualification of its members and the grounds for forfeiture of office. A member charged with conduct constituting grounds for forfeiture of his office shall be entitled to a public hearing on demand, and notice of such hearing shall be published in a newspaper published in the City, or, if none, in a newspaper of general circulation in the City, at least ten (10) days in advance of the hearing. Decisions made by the City Commission under this section shall be subject to review by the courts.
The City Manager shall have the power to employ and discharge an officer of the City who shall have the title of City Secretary. The City Secretary shall give notice of City Commission meetings to its members and the public, keep the journal of its proceedings and perform such other duties as are assigned to him by this Charter or the City Commission.
The City Commission may make investigations into the affairs of the City and the conduct of any City department, office or agency and for this purpose may subpoena witnesses, administer oaths, take testimony and require the production of evidence. Failure to comply with any orders issued under this section shall be punishable by a fine not to exceed $200.
The City Commission shall provide for an independent annual audit of all City accounts and may provide for such audits more frequently as it considers necessary. Such audits shall be made by a certified public accountant or firm annually and shall be submitted to the City Commission no later than 90 days from the closing of the fiscal year. The City Commission shall cause to be prepared and published in a newspaper published in the City of Mercedes, or if none exists, in a newspaper having general circulation in the City, a complete financial statement of the affairs of the City once each year.
(A.) 
MEETINGS:
The City Commission shall meet regularly on the first and third Tuesday of each month at times and places established by rule. Special meeting[s] may be conducted on the call of the Mayor or of three City Commission members, with adequate notice to be given to each member. All meetings shall be conducted in compliance with the Texas Open Meetings Law.
(B.) 
RULES AND JOURNAL:
The City Commission shall determine its own rules and order of business and shall provide for keeping a journal of its proceedings. This journal shall be a public record. In lieu of adopted rules by the City Commission, the City Commission shall conduct its meeting in accordance with the latest edition [of] Robert’s Rules of Order.
(C.) 
VOTING:
On any vote, except on procedural motions, a roll call vote be called for by the majority of the City Commission and a record of ayes and nays entered in the journal. Three (3) members of the City Commission shall constitute quorum. No action of the City Commission shall be valid or binding unless adopted by the affirmative vote of three (3) or more members. Provided, however, that if because of vacancies on the City Commission the total membership of the City Commission is reduced to less than three (3), then a quorum shall consist of all remaining members of the City Commission, and all actions must be by affirmative vote of all remaining members of the City Commission.
In addition to other acts required by law or by specific provision of this Charter to be done by ordinance, those acts of the City Commission shall be by ordinance which:
Adopt or amend an administrative code or establish, alter or abolish any city department, office or agency;
Provide for a fine or other penalty or establish a rule or regulation for violation of which a fine or other penalty is imposed.
Levy taxes, except as otherwise provided in this Charter with respect to the property tax levied by adoption of the budget;
Grant, renew or extend a franchise;
Regulate the rate charged for its services by a public utility;
Authorize the borrowing of money;
Convey or lease or authorize the conveyance or lease of any lands of the City;
Adopt with or without amendment [an] ordinance proposed under the initiative power;
Amend or repeal any ordinance previously adopted, except with respect to repeal of ordinances reconsidered under the referendum power.
The City Commission shall legislate by ordinance, and the enacting clause of every ordinance shall be, “Be It Ordained by the City Commission of the City of Mercedes...” The City attorney shall approve all ordinances adopted by the City Commission, as to the legality thereof or shall file with the City Secretary his written legal objections thereto. Evidence of approval of an ordinance by the City Attorney may be notation on the ordinance itself, or by separate paper or instrument. Every ordinance enacted by the City Commission shall be signed by the Mayor, Mayor Pro-Tem or by two City Commissioners and shall be filed with and recorded by the City Secretary. All ordinances shall be read in open meeting of the City Commission on two different days, each of which may be by caption only reading provided, however, that upon request of any person in attendance at the meeting, the first reading shall be total and verbatim; providing further that the rule herein described requiring ordinances to be read on two different days may be dispensed with for the purpose of adopting emergency ordinances which shall upon consent of three or more members of the City Commission be adopted. 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 is adopted as an emergency measure by the favorable votes of three or more members of the City Commission and contains a statement of the nature of the emergency. The City Secretary shall give notice of the passage of every ordinance imposing a penalty, fine or forfeiture for a violation thereof, and of every other ordinance required by law or this Charter to be published, by causing the said ordinance, or its caption and penalty, to be published at least once within ten (10) days after passage in a newspaper published in the City of Mercedes, or if none, in a newspaper of general circulation in the City.
The City Manager and City Secretary and other such City officers and employees as the city Commission may require, shall, before entering upon the duties of their offices enter into a good and sufficient fidelity bond in a sum to be determined by the City Commission, payable to the City of Mercedes and conditioned upon the faithful discharge of the duties of such persons and upon the faithful accounting for all monies[,] credits, and things of value coming into the hands of such persons, and such bonds shall be signed as surety by some company authorized to do business under the laws of Texas and the premium on such bonds shall be paid by the City of Mercedes, and such bonds must be acceptable to the City Commission.
The City Commission may adopt any standard code of technical regulations by reference thereto in an adopting ordinance. The procedure and requirements governing such an adopting ordinance shall be as prescribed for ordinances generally, except that:
The requirements of Section 2.13 for distribution and filling [filing] of copies of the ordinance shall be construed to include copies of the code of technical regulations as well as the adopting ordinances.
A copy of each adopted code of technical regulations as well as of the adopting ordinance shall be authenticated and recorded by the City Secretary pursuant to subsection 2.16(A).
Copies of any adopted code of technical regulations shall be made available by the City Secretary for distribution to interested citizens, in accordance with regulations established by the City Commission.
(A.) 
AUTHENTICATION AND RECORDING:
The City Secretary shall authenticate by his signature and record in full in a properly indexed book kept for the purpose of all ordinances and resolutions adopted by the City Commission.
(B.) 
Within four years after the adoption of this Charter, the City Commission shall provide for the preparation of a general codification of all city ordinances and resolutions having the force and effect of law. The general codification shall be adopted by the City Commission by ordinance and shall be published in bound or loose-leaf form, together with this Charter and any amendments thereto, pertinent provisions of the Constitution and other laws of the State of Texas, and such code[s] of technical regulations and other rules and regulations as the City Commission may specify. This compilation shall be known and cited officially as The Mercedes City Code. Copies shall be furnished to City officers, libraries and public offices for free public reference and made available for purchase by the public at a reasonable price fixed by the City Commission. The Mercedes City Code shall be subject to republication at regular intervals after the first such Code is created, preferably each ten (10) years.
(C.) 
PRINTING OF ORDINANCES AND RESOLUTIONS:
The City Commission shall cause each ordinance and resolution having the force and effect of law and each amendment to this Charter to be printed promptly following its adoption, and the printed ordinances, resolutions and Charter amendments shall be distributed or sold to the public at reasonable prices to be fixed by the City Commission. Following publication of the first Mercedes City Code and at all times thereafter, the ordinances, or resolutions and Charter amendments shall be printed in substantially the same styles as the Code currently in effect and shall be suitable in form for integration therein. The City Commission shall make such further arrangements as it deems desirable with respect to reproduction and distributions of any current changes in or additions to the provisions of the Constitution and other laws of the State of Texas, or the codes of technical regulations and other rules and regulations included in the Code.