Cedar Park voters to weigh 15 charter amendment changes in May election

A home rule charter establishes city government structure, powers and procedures. Unlike ordinances, which City Council can adopt or amend, charter changes require voter approval. Cedar Park’s charter was adopted in 1987 and has been amended five times, most recently in 2021, according to city staff.

Larry Schooler, a professor specializing in civic engagement at The University of Texas at Austin, said charter votes carry weight in a representative democracy.

“Sometimes when we think about the public’s role in our democracy, we sort of limit it to electing candidates,” he said. “But we recognize that a change to a significant document like a charter should give the public the final say.”

Many proposed updates aim to make the charter easier to understand, while a few carry broader implications for how the city operates. For example, voters will decide whether to pay council members for the first time, how quickly emergency measures can be enacted and how residents can petition their government.

Residents can review full proposition texts here.

What they're saying

The city’s charter review committee met three times in 2025 before recommending 16 initial amendments to the City Council on Dec. 18. Chair Tony Moline said the recommendations primarily focus on state law compliance and removing outdated or conflicting provisions.

At the Jan. 8 council meeting, City Attorney J.P. LeCompe presented a refined package for consideration. The council ultimately removed one amendment related to mayoral veto power, noting that the provision was confusing and would not result in any functional change.

In most cases, the changes are intended to clean up language and defer to state law rather than create new local policy, LeCompe said.

Council member Anne Duffy characterized many of the amendments as routine housekeeping, while Kevin Harris noted that several proposals had been discussed in prior charter reviews, including the 2018 election, which included 26 amendments.

"It’s getting us that cleaned-up, compliant version of our charter in line with state law. We aren’t in the business of creating language to confuse people. It’s pretty straightforward," Duffy said.

Still, some proposals prompted discussion. Several council members expressed a preference for allocating potential compensation funds elsewhere, though the measure remained in the final package presented to voters. The committee also noted that state employees may not be eligible to run for City Council if the compensation measure is approved.

Mayor Jim Penniman-Morin told Community Impact that the citizens committee spent months developing the recommendations and deserved deference.

“I don’t know that [compensation] would make a big difference for me. Certainly, it wouldn’t affect my desire to serve," Penniman-Morin said.

How to vote

Cedar Park residents will vote on the charter amendments May 2. Early voting runs April 20-28.

Penniman-Morin encouraged residents to approach the ballot thoughtfully.

“I always advise residents to do as much research as they can and approach these questions thoughtfully. Most of these are really clean-up measures to align the charter with state law,” he said.

Each of the 15 propositions will appear separately on the ballot. For polling locations, Williamson County residents can visit www.wilcotx.gov/elections and Travis County residents can visit www.votetravis.gov.