The governing and lawmaking body of the City of Slaton shall consist of four (4) commissioners and one (1) mayor, and said body shall be known as the “Commission of the City of Slaton.”
The members of the commission and mayor of the City of Slaton as provided for in this charter shall be the only elective officers of the city, and they shall be elected and hold office, and be compensated as herein provided. The mayor shall be elected from the city at large. The commissioners shall be elected one from each of four (4) wards of the city, as herein designated.
The City of Slaton is hereby divided into four (4) wards, as follows: The territory in said city lying south of Lubbock Street and west of Ninth Street shall be known as Ward No. 1; the territory in said city lying north of Lubbock Street and west of Ninth Street shall be known as Ward No. 2; the territory in said city lying north of Lubbock Street and east of Ninth Street shall be known as Ward No. 3; and the territory in said city lying south of Lubbock Street and east of Ninth Street shall be known as Ward No. 4; provided that the governing body shall have power, by ordinance, to change the boundaries of said wards from time to time. All elections, including ward elections, shall be held in the city hall, or in designated places which the governing body may hereafter provide by ordinance.
The mayor and each member of the commission shall be a resident citizen of the City of Slaton, and shall be a qualified voter of Texas, shall not hold another public office, and shall have been such a resident citizen of the City of Slaton for a period of not less than twelve (12) months immediately preceding such election; provided, however that any person with the above qualifications, except as to residence, who shall have been a resident for a period of not less than twelve (12) months immediately preceding his election of any of the territory not formerly in the incorporated limits of said city, but which is annexed under the provisions of this charter, may be elected to said office. Any commissioner who, during his continuance in office, establishes his domicile outside of the limits of the City of Slaton from which he was elected, shall thereupon ipso facto forfeit his office and the vacancy shall be filled as provided in section 7 hereof.
(Ordinance 180, sec. 1, 3/28/60; Amended at an election held on 11/8/2022)
The City Commission shall be composed of a mayor and four commissioners who shall be elected in the following manner. The mayor shall be elected from the city at large for a term of three years at an election to be held on the uniform election day in May 2023. Regular elections for mayor shall be held on the uniform election day in May, or such other uniform election day as the Texas Legislature may from time to time designate, on each third year thereafter. Commissioners for place 1 and place 3 shall be elected at an election to be held on the uniform election day in May 2023. Commissioners for place 2 and place 4 shall be elected at an election to be held on the uniform election day in May 2024. After such elections, the commissioners so elected shall serve a three-year term. Thereafter, regular elections for commissioners shall be held on the uniform election day in May or such other uniform election day as the Texas Legislature may from time to time designate, in each year an election is necessary. The term for commissioner shall be three years. All elections shall be held in accordance with the state law for municipal elections.
(Amended at an election held on 11/8/2022)
A vacancy occurring in the Commission, including the office of mayor, shall be filled by a person having the qualifications of an elective official of the city and selected in the following manner: If a single vacancy occurs and the Commission member’s seat which is vacated has less than one year remaining, then the Commission may appoint a successor to serve the remainder of the term. If the position that is vacated has more than one year remaining, then the Commission shall appoint a successor to serve until the next regular city election at which time the position will be placed on the ballot for the unexpired term. If two or more vacancies occur at one time, a special election shall be called by the remaining members of the Commission in accordance with the Election Code to fill the vacancies for the unexpired terms.
(Amended at an election held on 11/8/2022)
The mayor pro tem shall be selected from among the members of the commission, and shall perform all the duties of the mayor in his absence or disability.
The mayor and commissioners shall each receive the sum of five dollars ($5.00) for each meeting of the commission attended by him, provided, that no such officer shall receive for his services a greater compensation than one hundred eighty dollars ($180.00) in any one year, nor more than fifteen dollars ($15.00) for any calendar month. Provided further that when the mayor performs the duties of city recorder in addition to his duties as mayor he shall be entitled to receive such additional compensation, as salary, as the governing body shall allow and fix by ordinance, not to exceed one thousand two hundred dollars ($1,200.00) per year, payable in equal monthly installments.
For purposes of this Section term “City Official” means any individual subject to the requirements of Texas Local Government Code, Chapter 171.
It is hereby prohibited for the Mayor, City Commissioners, or a City Official to violate the rules and regulations regarding conflicts of interests as set out in the Texas Local Government Code, Chapter 171, as amended or successor statute.
(Amended at an election held on 11/8/2022)
The commission shall constitute the legislative and governing body of the city, and shall have and exercise all the powers and authority herein granted. It shall pass and adopt all needful ordinances and resolutions, and adopt all necessary regulations governing the different departments of the city and not inconsistent with the provisions of this charter and the constitution and general laws of this state.
The mayor of the City of Slaton, who shall have been elected from the city at large, shall preside over the meeting of said commission, and perform such other duties consistent with the office as may be imposed upon him by this charter and ordinances and resolutions passed in pursuance hereof. He may participate in the discussion of all matters coming before the commission and shall be entitled to a vote as a member thereof on all legislative and other matters, but shall have no veto power. He shall sign all contracts and conveyances made or entered into by the city and all bonds issued under the provisions of this charter, and shall be the chief executive officer of the city. He shall be recognized as the official head of the city by the courts for the purpose of serving civil process, by the governor for the purpose of enforcing military law, and for all ceremonial purposes. In times of danger or emergency, the mayor may, with the consent of the commission, take command of the police and govern the city by proclamation and maintain order and enforce all laws.
The city commission shall hold at least one regular meeting in each month at a time to be fixed by it for such regular meetings; and may hold as many additional meetings during the month as may be necessary for the transaction of the business of the city and its citizens.
The mayor, or two (2) members of the commission, may call special meetings of the commission at any time advisable in accordance with the Texas Open Meetings Act, as amended, or successor statute.
(Amended at an election held on 11/8/2022)
Three (3) members of the commission shall constitute a quorum to do business, and the affirmative vote of a majority shall be necessary to adopt any ordinance or resolution. All meetings of the commission shall be conducted in accordance with the Texas Open Meetings Act, as amended, or successor statute, and minutes of all proceedings shall be kept, to which any citizen may have access in accordance with the Texas Public Information Act, as amended, or successor statute, 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 person performing the duties of city clerk or secretary, and the original thereof shall bear the impress of the official seal of the city.
(Amended at an election held on 11/8/2022)
Each proposed ordinance or resolution shall be introduced in written or printed form and shall not contain more than one (1) subject, which shall be clearly expressed in the title, except ordinances or resolutions making appropriations or authorizing the contracting of indebtedness or issuance of bonds or other evidence of indebtedness. No ordinance, unless it be declared an emergency measure, shall be passed finally on the date it is introduced, but must be passed, read, and voted upon at two (2) separate meetings of the commission, either regular or special meetings.
(Amended at an election held on 11/8/2022)
An emergency measure is an ordinance or resolution for the immediate preservation of the public business, property, health or safety, or providing for the usual daily operation of a municipal department in which the emergency is set forth in such ordinance or resolution. Ordinances or resolution[s] appropriating money to defray current or other expenses of the city may be passed as emergency measures but no ordinance or resolution making a grant, renewal or extension of a franchise or other special privilege, or regulating the rate or rates to be charged for service furnished the public generally by any public utility shall ever be passed as an emergency measure.
Every ordinance imposing any penalty, fine, imprisonment or forfeiture shall, after passage thereof, be published in one (1) issue of the official paper; and proof of such publication shall be made by the printer or publisher of such paper, making affidavit before some officer authorized by law to administer oaths, and filed with the person performing the duties of city clerk or secretary and shall be prima facie evidence of such publication and promulgation of such ordinance in all courts of the state; and such ordinance so published shall take effect and be in force, from and after five (5) days after publication thereof, unless otherwise expressly provided. Ordinances not required to be published shall take effect and be in force, from and after the passage, unless otherwise provided.
The commission may investigate the financial transaction of any office or department of the city government, and the acts and conduct of any officer 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; 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 to 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 exceeding a fine of one hundred dollars ($100.00) and three (3) days in the city prison. No witness shall be excused from testifying, touching 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.
A. 
Appointment and Qualifications.
The Commission shall, upon approval of a majority of the City Commission, appoint a City Manager who shall be the chief administrative and executive officer of the City, and shall be responsible to the Commission for the administration of the affairs of the City. The City Manager shall be chosen by the Commission solely based on the City Manager's executive and administrative training, experience, and ability. Within 6 months of his/her appointment as City Manager, the newly appointed City Manager shall be a resident of the City of Slaton. No member of the Commission shall, during the time for which he or she is elected, nor for one (1) year thereafter, be appointed City Manager.
B. 
Term and Compensation.
Except as may be modified by an Employment Contract entered between the City and the City Manager, the following provisions apply to the term and compensation of the City Manager. The City Manager shall be appointed for an indefinite term and receive compensation as may be fixed by the Commission. The Commission may by affirmative vote of a majority of the City Commission take action to remove the Manager from office. The action of the Commission in removing the Manager shall be final; it being the intention of this Charter to vest all authority and fix all responsibility for such removal in the City Commission.
C. 
Temporary Absence or Disability of City Manager.
The City Manager may, by letter filed with the City Secretary and subject to approval by the City Commission, designate a qualified City administrative officer to be Acting City Manager during the temporary absence or disability of the Manager. If the City Manager fails to make such designation or if the Commission chooses to revoke such designation, the Commission may appoint an Acting City Manager to serve during such time. The Commission may remove an Acting City Manager at any time.
(Amended at an election held on 11/8/2022)
The City Manager shall have the following powers and duties:
(1) 
Appoint and suspend or remove all 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.
(2) 
Direct and supervise the administration of all departments, offices, and agencies of the city, except as otherwise provided by this Charter or by law;
(3) 
Attend all City Commission meetings, except when excused by the Mayor. The City Manager shall have the right to take part in discussion but shall not vote;
(4) 
See that all laws, provisions of this Charter, and acts of the City Commission, subject to enforcement by the City Manager or by employees or officers subject to the City Manager's direction and supervision, are faithfully executed;
(5) 
Prepare and submit the annual budget and capital program to the City Commission and implement the final budget and capital program approved by the City Commission to achieve the goals of the City;
(6) 
Submit to the City Commission and make available to the public a complete report on the finances and administrative activities of the City as of the end of each fiscal year;
(7) 
Make such other reports as the City Commission may require concerning the operations of the City;
(8) 
Keep the City Commission fully advised as to the financial condition and future needs of the City;
(9) 
Make recommendations to the City Commission concerning the affairs of the City and facilitate the work of the City Commission in developing policy;
(10) 
Provide staff support services for the Mayor and Commissioners;
(11) 
Assist the Commission to develop long term goals for the city and strategies to implement these goals;
(12) 
To execute, on behalf of the City, standard form documents, including but not limited to, deeds, releases of liens, rental agreements, easements, right-of-way agreements, joint use agreements, loan documents, and other similar documents, under the following conditions:
(a.) 
The execution of the document is necessary to carry out a public works project; utilize, maintain or improve a City facility, street, right-of-way, easement, park or other City property, or to implement other City policies; provided that such project, program or policy has been approved by the City Commission; and
(b.) 
That all blanks are filled in on any document correctly and that such document is consistent with the objectives approved by the City Commission; and
(13) 
Perform such other duties as are specified in this Charter or may be required by the City Commission or as required by law.
(Amended at an election held on 11/8/2022)
The commission shall create and consolidate such offices and may divide the administration of the city’s affairs into such departments as it may deem advisable, and may discontinue any such office or department at its discretion.
The mayor shall appoint what shall be known and designated as the cemetery association, which shall be composed of three (3) members, who shall serve without compensation, and may prescribe the qualifications and duties of the members of such association and their terms of office; the city commission shall appropriate annually from the general fund of said city one-half of one (1/2 of 1) mill of each one dollar ($1.00) of the assessed value of all taxable property in the City of Slaton, to support the work of such association; also, said association shall receive the proceeds from the sale of cemetery lots to help support the work of such association, same to be used and expended at the will and discretion of such association.
(Ordinance 135, sec. 1, 2/25/52)
The commission shall fix and determine the salaries and wages of all appointive officers and employees of the city, and 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 the city commission at a regular meeting, and all warrants shall be signed by the mayor and countersigned by the party acting as city clerk or secretary.
Accounting procedure shall be devised and maintained for the city, adequate to record in detail, all transactions affecting the acquisition, custodianship and disposition of values, including cash receipts, credit transactions and disbursements; and the recorded facts shall be presented periodically to the city commission and to the public in such summaries and analytical schedules in detailed support thereof as shall be necessary to show fully such transactions for 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 commission shall cause a continuous audit of the books of account; all records and transactions of the administration of the affairs of the city; such audit shall be made annually during each fiscal year and shall be made by a certified public accountant. The duty of the certified public accountant shall include the certification of all statements required in section 31 of this charter; 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 Slaton, one (1) time within ten (10) days after the completion of such audit.
Any purchase made or contract entered into by the City of Slaton shall be in accordance with the laws of the State of Texas as the same now exist or as they may be amended from time to time, or as provided by City ordinance when not in conflict with State law. No contract, obligation or undertaking made for and on behalf of the city, having for its purpose or meaning the creation of any debt or the payment of any moneys for any purpose, shall ever be binding upon or enforceable against the city, unless the governing body shall, at the time of making said contract, or of incurring such debt or obligation, make provision, by ordinance, for the levying and collection of a tax sufficient to pay the same at maturity, unless it shall be in the contemplation of said governing body to pay such debt or obligation out of the current revenues of the city or out of some fund then on hand and within the immediate control of the governing body, in which case such intention shall be clearly expressed in the minutes and in such contract or writing; and unless so expressed it shall conclusively be presumed that payment of such debt or obligation is intended to be a charge upon the future revenues of the city and shall be wholly void and invalid unless the provisions of this section be strictly complied with. Provided further, that no such contract, debt, obligation or undertaking shall ever be binding upon the city unless made and entered into by the city's governing body in a formal and stated meeting of the commission at which there is present and acting a quorum, which facts shall be made a matter of record in the minutes of such meeting. No judgment shall ever be rendered against the city and no recovery shall be had based upon any plea of quantum meruit or quantum valebat or implied contract founded upon or growing out of any transaction where any provision of this section has been ignored or violated. All contracts, agreements and undertakings to which the city is a party or upon which the city is sought to be bound, that seek to impose a debt, charge or burden upon any future revenue of the city, and not contemplated to be paid out of current revenues or out of some fund then on hand and within the immediate control of the governing body, shall be in writing and signed on behalf of the city by the mayor or mayor pro tem, attested by the city secretary and the impress of the city's official seal placed thereon. All such contracts shall be made and entered into by all parties thereto with the provisions of this section in mind, and each and every provision of this section shall be and become a part of every such contract and be read into the same as a material and controlling part thereof, whether or not same is copied in such contract, agreement or undertaking.
(Amended at an election held on 11/8/2022)
The City of Slaton shall comply with the state nepotism laws regarding which persons are not qualified to be appointed to any office, position, clerkship, or other service of the city.
(Amended at an election held on 11/8/2022)
Eight (8) 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 constructing, repairing or improving buildings, bridges, streets, avenues, alleys, highways or other public improvements of a similar character, requiring the services of laborers, workmen or mechanics.
The city manager and the person or persons exercising the duties of the city treasurer and city tax collector shall 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 of Slaton and shall in each instance, be conditioned for the faithful discharge of the duties of such respective officers, and for the faithful accounting for all moneys, credits and things of value coming into the hands of such respective officers. Such bonds shall be procured from some regularly accredited surety company, authorized to do business under the laws of the State of Texas and the premiums to such surety companies shall be paid by the City of Slaton.
The city commission or manager shall have the right to require official bonds from other appointive officers of the city in such amounts and conditions as [it or] he 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 the city secretary.
(Amended at an election held on 11/8/2022)
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 of Texas for county officials.