Garland Voters Approve 36 Amendments to City Charter

Garland voters passed 36 proposed amendments to the city charter Saturday.

The changes to the charter come after the City Council appointed residents last fall to a Charter Review Committee to see what needed to be updated in the city's governing document. The first 19 props include legal and technical updates to stay within state law and to make language gender neutral; the remaining amendments focus on procedural or technical changes.

The propositions and the results of the election can be seen below. The detailed proposition proposal can be seen at the bottom of this page.

Garland Proposition A
“Shall the Charter be amended to provide for gender neutrality, deletion and correction of obsolete and incorrect citations, references, titles of city officials, and correction of typographical errors?”

[[481783121,C]]

Garland Proposition B
“Shall Article II, Section 2, of the Charter be amended to update and clarify the City’s authority to purchase electric utility facilities inside or outside the City limits?”

[[481788081,C]]

Garland Proposition C
“Shall Article III, Section 1(C), of the Charter be amended by changing the residency requirements for a person runnin Councilmember, including Mayor, from a requirement that the candidate reside within the Council district at the time of his or her nomination to a requirement that the candidate reside for a minimum of one year in the Council district at the time of his or her election or appointment?”

[[481788191,C]]

Garland Proposition D
“Shall Article III, Section 1(E), of the Charter be moved in its entirety to subsection (F) and replaced with a provision that prohibits a Councilmember, including the Mayor, who vacates his or her office prior to the end of the scheduled term from serving again in the same capacity until one complete subsequent term has elapsed?”

[[481788941,C]]

Garland Proposition E
“Shall Article III, Section 3, of the Charter be amended to increase the compensation for the Mayor and City Council to take into account an inflation adjustment since May of 2000?”

[[481788981,C]]

Garland Proposition F
“Shall Section 5, “Vacancies” of Article III, “The Council” of the Charter be amended to be consistent with state law and to further provide that in the event of a vacancy on Council where the member of the vacant seat is unable or unwilling to hold-over until such time as the vacancy may be filled pursuant to a lawful election and the Governor of the State of Texas does not call an election to fill the vacancy after being petitioned by the City, and a special election cannot be held within 120 days of appointment, then the remaining members of the Council may by a three-fourths super-majority vote to appoint a qualified person to fill the vacancy; that a person so appointed by Council shall not be eligible to serve again on Council in the same capacity until one complete subsequent term has elapsed; and that subject to these conditions, an appointment by Council shall be for an interim term until such time as a special election may be called or until the current term expires?”

[[481789161,C]]

Garland Proposition G
“Shall Article III, Section 8, of the Charter relating to the location of regular meetings of the Council be amended to allow Council to hold regular meetings at City Hall or other location designated by Council within the city limits?”

Garland Proposition R
“Shall Article VIII, Section 2, of the Charter relating to the submission of the city budget be amended to provide that the City Manager shall file the budget with the City Secretary on or before the date set by state law?”

[[481790311,C]]

Garland Proposition S
“Shall Article VIII, Section 3, of the Charter relating to the form of the city budget by the City Manager be amended to delete the list of the required contents of the City Manager’s budget message and provide that the budget be prepared in accordance with, and contain all information required by, state law?”

[[481790421,C]]

Garland Proposition T
“Shall Article VIII, Section 4, of the Charter relating to public access of the proposed budget be amended to accommodate digital and electronic access by the public?”

[[481790541,C]]

Garland Proposition U
“Shall Article VIII, Section 5, of the Charter relating to publication and notice of the public hearing on the proposed budget be amended so that publication and notice of the public hearing is in accordance with state law?”

[[481790651,C]]

Garland Proposition V
“Shall Article VIII, Section 6, of the Charter relating to scheduling the public hearing and adopting the budget be amended to update terminology, so that the scheduling and adoption of the budget is done in accordance with state law, and setting the 21st day of September as the last day on which Council may approve a final budget prior to the proposed budget as submitted by the City Manager being deemed to have been finally adopted by the Council?”

[[481790831,C]]

Garland Proposition W
“Shall Article X, Section 1, of the Charter relating to the authority of the City to issue bonds be amended so that the City shall have the authority to borrow money, issue bonds, notes and other evidences of indebtedness permitted by, and in accordance with, state law?”

[[481791141,C]]

Garland Proposition X
“Shall Article X, Section 3, of the Charter relating to bond election procedures be amended so that the Council is required to establish a Bond Study Committee preceding a bond election, any proposition on a ballot to issue bonds payable from ad valorem taxes must first be submitted to a vote of the qualified voters of the City of Garland, and all bond elections and issuance and payments of bonds shall be done in accordance with state law?”

[[481791221,C]]

Garland Proposition Y
“Shall Article X, Section 10, of the Charter relating to bond elections be amended so that each bond proposition must expressly state all information required by state law?”

[[481791481,C]]

Garland Proposition Z
“Shall Article XI, Section 1, of the Charter relating to the requirements to be a member of the Plan Commission be amended by deleting the real property ownership requirement to serve as a member and substituting it with a residency requirement?”

[[481788561,C]]

Garland Proposition AA
“Shall Article XI, Section 10, of the Charter be amended by replacing the property ownership requirement with a requirement that a person be a resident of the City for a period of not less than one (1) year prior to his or her appointment as a board member or commissioner?”

[[481787091,C]]

Garland Proposition AB
“Shall Article XII, Section 2, of the Charter be amended so that the number of signatures required on a petition of a person desiring to become a candidate for an office on City Council and the filing deadlines are consistent with state law?”

[[481787371,C]]

Garland Proposition AC
“Shall Article XII, Section 8, of the Charter relating to the recall of the Mayor or Councilmember be amended to update the petition submittal requirements, the petition process and schedule, the form of the petition, the required number of signatures, the duties and obligations of the City Secretary, and clarify and update vacancy and holdover terms?”

Garland Proposition AD
“Shall Article XIV, Section 5, of the Charter be amended so that publication of proposed ordinances by referendum is electronically published on the City website and consistent with all other publication requirements of the Charter and in accordance with state law?”

[[481787561,C]]

Garland Proposition AE
“Shall Article XV, Section 1, of the Charter relating to the general powers of the City in regard to utility systems be amended to be consistent with state law?”

[[481787621,C]]

Garland Proposition AF
“Shall Article XV, Section 2, of the Charter relating to franchise fees be amended to update terminology and be consistent with state law?”

[[481787691,C]]

Garland Proposition AG
“Shall Article XV, Section 6, of the Charter relating to the terms and conditions of granting franchises to public utilities, and the notification thereof, be amended to be consistent with state law?”

Garland Proposition AH
“Shall Article XV, Section 7, of the Charter relating to obsolete reporting requirements of public utility franchises be repealed?”

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