Frisco City Council members went over some of the charter recommendations for a second time since December during a Jan. 21 work session meeting. After some discussion, council members directed city staff to begin workshopping ballot language for all 10 items.
A majority of the items are related to updating the charter to reflect current state law or remove redundant language.
Two items—the ones some council members said they had reservations with bringing up in May—would propose raising council members’ monthly pay and replacing the city’s ethics policy on receiving gifts to better align with state law.
City officials have until a Feb. 4 council meeting to present and approve official ballot language for the charter amendments. The deadline to file for a place on the ballot is Feb. 14.
As of Jan. 27, a bond for the arts center has not been called.
The discussion
Council member Bill Woodard said he was unsure if it was in the city’s best interest to put forward the two amendments alongside a potentially multimillion-dollar bond for the Frisco Center for the Arts project.
A $1.08 billion bond put forward by Frisco ISD in November failed for similar reasons, Woodard said.
“There were items in there that the school district could have done without, but they put them in there anyway,” he said. “That makes people think differently about some of the ones that really need to be approved.”
Woodard said his concern with the gifts item is that it could look like they are removing the policy "to make things more favorable for us" instead of to better align with Texas law, which city officials are already operating under.
Another amendment discussed during the meeting was a request to allow the council to appoint a replacement member in the event someone leaves with 12 months or less left in their term. It is being proposed because any longer than 12 months would give time to hold a special election, Woodard said.
The charter items, and the arts center project, would require some ballot education outreach, council member Tammy Meinershagen said. The city is allowed to put out factual information on what will be on the ballot but advocating for or against any of the items would need to be done through a Political Action Committee, City Manager Wes Pierson said.
Some context
The Frisco Center for the Arts is a long-discussed and city-supported arts facility that would host touring Broadway shows, local artists’ groups, student performances and more.
As of Jan. 21, two non-binding letters of intent related to the project have been signed with Broadway Across America, which would fill seats at the facility, and Prosper ISD, which would contribute over $100 million toward the construction in exchange for district use.
Frisco would need to call a bond to contribute around $140 million to the projected $340 million facility.
The remaining $100 million would need to be collected from philanthropic efforts, according to a cost breakdown from PISD.
“If the [Frisco Center for the Arts] vote fails, it was a shaky project anyway,” Mayor Jeff Cheney said.
A majority of the charter amendments are "cleanup items" and would not affect how the city does business whether or not they pass or fail, he said.
The setup
Frisco’s City Charter was first adopted in 1987 and outlines the city’s form of government, powers of the city and various processes and rules for its leaders. The document requires the city to form a charter review commission to look for potential amendments every six years.
While the regular review process is mandatory, the charter does not require an election to follow every review. Council members have the option to push back an election to another year but it would just mean having the same uncomfortable discussion at a future date, Cheney said.
“No one wants to be on the council when [compensation increases are] on the ballot, for obvious reasons,” Cheney said. “It's going to keep being uncomfortable unless the council finally does it and makes it so it doesn't have to be a future conversation ever again.”
Included in the proposed amendment to raise council pay is a request to use the Consumer Price Index (CPI) to determine compensation going forward to reflect the state of the economy and prevent a compensation-related charter amendment from appearing on a ballot again.
“I would like for us to address it,” Cheney said. “If people have concerns about it, I would rather at least leave the indexing portion on there.”
Council member Brian Livingtston said he would prefer if the CPI-adjusted council pay would not be higher than what city staff’s raise percentages are. For example, if staff are only getting a 3% raise, council members should not see a 7% raise, he said.
Council members have the option to deny a CPI-calculated raise if the amendment is approved, Pierson said.
One last thing
The last time Frisco voters approved any charter changes was in 2019. All 24 amendments on the ballot, including a compensation increase, passed.
Residents will be able to understand multiple ballot items if they appear on the May 3 ballot, Cheney said.
"Our voters are not stupid," Cheney said.