Any councilperson of this city may be recalled and removed from office by the electors qualified to vote for a successor of such incumbent as herein provided. The procedure to remove councilpersons shall be as follows:
A petition signed by the qualified voters entitled to vote for a successor to the councilperson sought to be removed, equal in number to at least twenty (20) percentum of the entire number of persons entitled to vote for a successor to said councilperson at said time, demanding the recall of said councilperson shall be filed with the city secretary, provided that such petition shall contain a general statement of the grounds for which the removal is sought. The signatures to the petition need not all be appended to one paper, but each signer shall add to his signature his place of residence, giving the street and number. One of the signers to each of such papers shall make oath before an officer competent to administer oaths that each signature is that of the person whose name it purports to be. Within twenty-five (25) days from the filing of such petition, the city secretary shall examine the same and from the list of qualified voters ascertain whether or not said petition is signed by the requisite number of qualified voters, and, if necessary, the council shall allow him extra help for that purpose, and he shall attach to said petition a certificate showing the result of such examination. If, by the secretary’s certificate, the petition is shown to be insufficient, it may be amended within ten (10) days from the date of said certificate. The secretary shall within twenty-five (25) days after such amendment is filed, if any is so filed with him, make like examination of the said amended petition, and if his certificate shall show same to be insufficient, it shall be returned to the person filing same without prejudice, however, to the filing of a new petition based upon new and different grounds, but not upon the same grounds.
If the petition be found sufficient, the secretary shall submit the same to the City Council without delay. If an election is to be held within the city for any other purpose within sixty (60) days from the date of said certificate, then the said recall election shall be held on the same day. If the councilperson in question resigns, no election shall be necessary and the vacancy shall be filled as in other cases of vacancies.
The provisions regulating examination, certification and amendment of initiative petitions shall apply to recall petitions. If the petition is certified by the city secretary to be sufficient and the councilperson whose removal is sought does not resign within five (5) days after the certification to the council, the council shall order and hold a recall election in the affected district. Such election shall be held on the first available election date specified pursuant to Article 2.01b of the Texas Election Code unless the council shall request, and receive, permission from the governor to call an emergency special election. If a recall petition should be certified within thirty (30) days of an election date, the council may set the election for the next date following the impending special election date or it may request permission for an emergency special election date from the governor.
Ballots used at recall elections shall conform to the following requirements:
(1) With respect to each person whose removal is sought the question shall be submitted “Shall (name of councilperson) be removed from the office of City Councilperson?”
(2) Immediately below each such question there shall be printed the two (2) following positions, one above the other, in the order indicated:
“For the recall of (name of councilperson).”
“Against the recall of (name of councilperson).”
If a majority of the votes cast at a recall election shall be against removal of the councilperson named on the ballot, he/she shall continue in office. If the majority of the votes cast at such election be for the removal of the councilperson named on the ballot, the council shall immediately declare his/her office vacant and such vacancy shall be filled in accordance with the provisions of this Charter for the filling of vacancies. A councilperson thus removed shall not be a candidate to succeed himself in an election called to fill the vacancy thereby created.
No recall petition shall be filed against a councilperson within six (6) months after he takes office, and no councilperson shall be subject to more than two (2) recall elections during a term of office.
(Ord. 25328-02-2022, § 2, 2-8-2022, approved 5-7-2022)