Colleyville, Texas……….August 22, 2016
Five of the Seven current Colleyville City Council Members voted at the Tuesday Colleyville City Council have done just that! The vote of Council was to pass along to the Citizens of Colleyville, in the form of a Charter Amendment during the November General Election, the option to limit Council members and the Mayor to two consecutive terms, or to a limit of 4 terms if a Council Member, in turn runs for Mayor at the end of two terms.
The term limits are not a moratorium from ever running for the city elected position again, but any member serving two consecutive terms (or 4 if moving from council to Mayor) must lay out at LEAST ONE TERM before running for office again!
The 10 Member Citizens Charter Revision Committee, chaired by Attorney and Former City Council Member, Frank Carroll, were task with the effort of looking at the Colleyville Charter and making recommendations to City Council, including an objective review and legal issues of Term Limits. The citizens met in July and past their recommendations along to City Council in an early August Council work session. The Report in PDF, in the entirety is listed here: CCC Review Committee (002).
The report was agreed to in a unanimous of the attending Charter Committee.
Two votes were required of City Council, 1.) a vote to accept the Recommendation of the Charter Committee and 2.) a vote to put the recommended amendments on the November General Election Ballot.
First , City Council, Councilman Bobby Lindamood moved to accept the report and was seconded by Councilperson Nancy Coplen. The vote passed on a 6 to 1 vote with long serving Councilman Mike Taylor recording the only NO vote. Taylor stated the last city council election did not turn out the way he would have liked and that it simply proved there was no need for Term Limits. He further stated that he had told his “supporters” that he was not going to run for re-election anyway; “I’ll be 65 and it’s time to retire,” stated Taylor who has served for 11 years since 1998. However, upon principle he was voting NO on the Recommendations of the Charter Committee.
Secondarily, the motion to put the amendments on the November Ballot was addressed by Taylor again, that “although he was against the proposition, he would not vote NO to allow voters a chance to decide.” Councilman Jody Short, who is the only member of Council who objected to the motion because of the structure of the amendments on the ballot. Short, also said that the Committee did not consider all option, for example the group did not discuss doing “nothing.” Short said that since he could not get any change he would be forced to vote no to putting the question on the November Ballot.
The following is the language that will appear on the November ballot in 5 Propositions;
Proposition No. 1
Amend the Colleyville City Charter by adding Section 3.01A, Limitations on Terms to provide that no person shall serve as Mayor for more than two (2) consecutive elected terms, and no person shall serve as a Council Member for more than two (2) consecutive elected terms. Under no circumstances may any person ever serve for more than twelve (12) consecutive years in combination as a Council Member or Mayor. The amendment shall be effective, at the next municipal election, shall apply to all persons currently occupying the Office of Mayor or Council Member, and shall apply to all municipal elections conducted after the date of adoption; provided however that this amendment will not cause a Council Members’ current term to be terminated prior to the completion of their elected term.
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Proposition No. 2
Amend Section 3.09(c) to allow for electronic voting by City Council and to provide that voting on nominations to City Boards, Committees, and Commissions do not require a roll call vote.
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Proposition No. 3
Change Section 7.02 to provide that the appointment of the City Secretary will require the approval of the City Council, for an indefinite term. Change Section 7.03 to provide that the appointment of the Police Chief will require the approval of the City Council. Change Section 7.04(A) to provide that the appointment of the Fire Chief will require the approval of the City Council. Change Section 7.05 to provide that the appointment of the Director of Public Works will require the approval of the City Council. Section 7.06 which provides that there shall be a Department of Finance headed by the City Manager or his appointee by adding the words with the approval of the City Council, for an indefinite term.
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Proposition No. 4
To eliminate and delete Article XIII which provided for transitional matters after the 2005 Charter amendments.
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Proposition No. 5
To amend Section 14.02 “Personal Financial Interest” by adding the underlined words shown below:
(F) Citizen Complaints. Any citizen of the City may file with the City Secretary a statement of suspected conflict of interest. Such statement of suspected conflict of interest shall be filed within fifteen (15) days of the decision, or vote, or if another event giving rise to an asserted violation of paragraph C above, within fifteen (15) days of when the citizen knew or reasonably should have known of the asserted violation, and shall describe the complained of conflict in reasonable detail. The City Council, or its designee, shall respond in writing to a timely filed statement of suspected conflict of interest, and the statement of suspected conflict of interest and response of the City Council shall be maintained in the public records of the City.
To amend Section 14.02 “Personal Financial Interest” by adding subsection (K) as set forth below:
(K) Financial Disclosure and Business Conflict of Interest Forms shall be provided by candidates for Mayor and City Council and by applicants seeking appointments to the Planning and Zoning Commission or the Zoning Board of Adjustment, and shall file such forms within two (2) business days following the end of the candidate filing period, or if for appointment, within two (2) business days following the end of the application period stated in the official City advertisement for application for the position. The City Manager and the City Manager’s senior staff members (including any staff member who is appointed with City Council approval) shall also file the same within thirty (30) days of hiring. All person(s), as outlined above, shall have a duty to file supplemental disclosures annually and within five (5) business days of an occurrence of any change in the information reflected in the forms previously filed by the individual. These forms shall include the following information:
(i) The location, size, and current use of all property owned within the portion of Dallas, Denton and Tarrant County north of Interstate 30 and east of Interstate 35W, and that portion of Denton County south of State Highway 114 and east of Interstate 35W, or held in trust by the person(s), as outlined above, their spouse, and any dependent minor children, or any business entity in which the person has a financial interest.
(ii) The name and address of any person or corporation which currently has or during the preceding twelve (12) months has had a contractual relationship with the City and from which the person(s), as outlined above, their spouse, or dependent minor children have received a fee, salary, or gift of value exceeding one hundred dollars ($100.00).
(iii) The name and address of any corporation or business, which currently has or in the preceding twelve (12) months has had a contractual relationship with the City, of which the person(s), as outlined above, their spouse, or any dependent minor children own more than two percent (2%) of the outstanding equity interest or more than two percent (2%) of the assets.
To amend Section 14.02 “Personal Financial Interest” by adding subsection (L) as set forth below:
(L) The disclosure reporting obligations required by Section 14.02(K) apply to all of the relationships listed in this Section 14.02
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