The city of Kyle Charter Review Commission convened Feb. 10 to begin its discussion of the city’s charter, beginning with articles one, two and three.
According to agenda documents, the commission may recommend changes to any of the provisions of the articles presented by city attorney Aimee Alcorn-Reed.
Article one consists of incorporation, form of government, rights reserved, general powers, particular powers, power of eminent domain, annexation and disannexation and streets and public property.
Commissioner Hannah Foarde commented on the mixed-terms in regard to community members in the documents, as “inhabitants,” “residents” and “citizens.”
“I think it’s pretty important that we find the word that fits best and use it consistently across documentation,” said Foarde, noting that later in article two, she would prefer “they” be used rather than 'his/her.'
This same conversation is happening in the governed sector as a whole for the usage of citizens in documents, Alcorn-Reed explained, as it may be suggested that it only applies to United States citizens, rather than to all residents that may or may not be citizens, so many cities have moved to using the term “resident” instead.
The attorney specified that section 1.07, which covers annexation and disannexation, should be considered by the commission for simplification, as state law has gone through significant changes within the last decade that makes any authority in the article a direct conflict.
“The shortest way to do it would be to say that the city has the power to annex and disannex in accordance to state law,” said Alcorn-Reed.
Although the other commissioners preferred the short version presented, Foarde noted that she would prefer language options to be brought forward at a later date for consideration.
Article two’s only section is related to the boundaries of the city and references section 1.07 and state law, reads the agenda documents. No changes were suggested to this article.
The third article consists of governing body, qualifications, term limits, vacancies in office, city council judge of its members, quorum and attendance, meetings, voting and compensation.
“So, 3.02 [qualifications] I have pointed out because our provision is less flexible than state law,” said Alcorn-Reed.
The charter states that “no candidate for council shall hold other elective public office,” while the state requires a public officer to resign to run for a different office if the candidate has more than one year and 30 days left on their term.
“I actually don’t have a problem with the way it’s stated right now because there's a difference between a state or county office and city council,” said commissioner Lila Knight, noting that language citing the constitution could be appropriate because there are some exceptions, such as being on city council while serving as a municipal judge in another city.
Next, in section 3.03, which discusses term limits, the commissioners opted to suggest that a resident must take a one year break after serving three, three-year terms on council.
“Because our council members serve for more than two years, if there’s a vacancy, they typically do have to be replaced by election within 120 days; however, the state law does allow a municipality to provide for an alternative method in the charter if the term that expired is less than 12 months,” said the attorney on article 3.04.
This means that the city is required to hold another election before the general election, even if it’s 30 days before, making two elections for the same seat happen in a year.
An example of a solution is having council appoint someone to council, similar to Buda. Knight was immediately opposed to this and would rather the seat sit vacant, which is what the commissioners eventually agreed on.
Knight also pointed out that in 3.05 City Council Judge of its Members that it takes six votes to remove a council member and only five to remove the city manager. This difference led to the commission to suggest requiring five votes to move a council member, rather than the six.
Regarding 3.06 Quorum and Attendance, the current charter states that missing three consecutive meetings will result in “misconduct in office.” Alcorn-Reed noted that there could be more grace becasue sometimes are three meetings in one day.
“Three consecutive meetings must be on three separate days, regardless of how many meetings were missed on a single day because I think at that point you’ll know the difference between someone who has consistently good and sufficient cause to miss meetings and someone who’s just not doing the job,” said commissioner David Glickler.
“I think we just need to honor the humanity of our council a little bit more,” said Foarde.
The commissioners suggested creating a nonexclusive list of valid reasons for council members to miss meetings, while Alcorn-Reed noted that she can bring options at a later date for this section.
For section 3.08 Voting, it is specified that motions can only pass with four votes, so the commissioners determined that this means that if council only has four members present and an item reaches a 3-1 split, the item must be tabled for another meeting, rather than passing the item without four affirmative votes.
Regarding compensations, Foarde explained that “if the job of a city council member is such that it pretty much constitutes a full-time job — and of course there would need to be documentation proving that, I suppose — but if they are working full-time hours essentially, I don’t think it's unreasonable to allow them a salary of what would be considered a fulltime
employee and that would include
benefits, as well.'
“If they have the ability to have another job then, I don’t think we need to go above and beyond. Now, if we prohibited them from having another job, that would warrant more benefits,” said Glickler.
No changes were suggested for this section. Alcorn-Reed also noted that an item regarding a compensation committee will soon be presented in front of city council.
To listen to the discussion, visit bit. ly/4aXR3QZ. The next charter review meeting will be Feb. 24.
