Texarkana, Texas, voters on Tuesday approved all nine proposed amendments to the city charter, and Red Lick, Texas, voters elected two city board members.
Texarkana charter updates include lengthening the mayor's and City Council's terms of office from two to three years, changing how many council members must vote to approve a measure and giving the mayor more voting power.
Complete but unofficial results from Red Lick show that Lila Murray edged Sandra Hartline to win the Place 1 board seat, 43 votes to 42, or 50.59 percent to 49.41. Mark Patterson topped Wendell Boozer for the Place 2 seat, 56 votes to 38, or 59.57 percent to 40.43.
Turnout for the election was low, with only 2,842 Bowie County residents-4.92 percent of eligible voters-casting ballots.
Complete but unofficial results for each Texarkana charter amendment follow.
AMENDMENT 1-MEETINGS
For: 552 (81.66 percent)
Against: 124 (18.34 percent)
Result: The mayor, mayor pro tempore in the mayor's absence, city manager or two council members may call a special council meeting. Council members will be notified of any special meetings by any manner consistent with state law or otherwise approved by council resolution. The mayor or city manager may call an emergency council meeting. All meetings of the council and city boards and commissions will be open to the public, and all may adopt rules of procedure. The council must adopt rules and procedures to allow public comment at all public meetings.
AMENDMENT 2-DEPARTMENTS
For: 433 (64.34 percent)
Against: 240 (35.66 percent)
Result: The language that established the city's finance, police, fire and public works departments has been removed. The City Council retains its authority to abolish or combine departments or reassign duties among departments.
AMENDMENT 3-CITY ATTORNEY
For: 437 (64.84 percent)
Against: 237 (35.16 percent)
Result: The City Council must appoint a city attorney "to serve at its pleasure and to be its legal adviser," but it now has full latitude to hire other attorneys to represent the city as needed.
AMENDMENT 4-ANNUAL AUDIT
For: 601 (88.91 percent)
Against: 75 (11.09 percent)
Result: The city's completed annual financial audit report must be posted on the city's website, but is no longer required to be published in a newspaper.
AMENDMENT 5-MAYOR
For: 431 (63.48 percent)
Against: 248 (36.52 percent)
Result: The mayor will vote when the City Council is tied, there is a vacancy on the council or a council member is not voting or absent from a meeting.
AMENDMENT 6-CITY CHARTER
For: 532 (79.64 percent)
Against: 136 (20.36 percent)
Result: The City Council may, by ordinance, renumber and rearrange the city charter and remove gender references from it. The amendment adds to the council's powers the ability to, by ordinance, substitute terms in the city charter to make it conform with state or federal law.
AMENDMENT 7-COUNCIL RULES
For: 395 (59.13 percent)
Against: 273 (40.87 percent)
Result: Five City Council members constitute a quorum, and the votes of a majority of members present are required to approve an ordinance or resolution.
AMENDMENT 8-TERMS OF OFFICE
For: 446 (65.88 percent)
Against: 231 (34.12 percent)
Result: The mayor and City Council members will serve three-year terms.
To transition to the new rule, one of the three council members elected in 2017, selected by a drawing, will serve a four-year term. The other two members elected in 2017 will serve three-year terms. Two of the three council members elected in 2018, selected by a drawing, will serve four-year terms. The other will serve a three-year term. No council elections will be held in 2019.
If there is a vacancy in council membership and the time remaining in the unexpired term exceeds a year, the council must call a special election to fill the vacancy. If the time is less than a year, the current options still apply.
AMENDMENT 9-CITY MANAGER
For: 463 (68.8 percent)
Against: 210 (31.2 percent)
Result: The amendment removes language that had required the City Council to appoint a city manager "for an indefinite term," giving it more flexibility.
A clause in City Manager Shirley Jaster's Oct. 23 employment contract stipulated that if this amendment passed, the contract would be in effect for two years.