The city charter acts as Celina’s constitution.
It was first established in 2007 and allows for amendments to be brought to voters every two years. The most recent amendments were approved in November 2022.
What you need to know
Celina City Council members placed the propositions on the ballot during a Feb. 11 meeting.
Each of the 10 propositions focuses on a specific section of the charter, City Secretary Lauren Vaughns said during the meeting.
- Mayor’s role and authority
- Allow the mayor to vote on all matters brought to council instead of only being able to break ties or veto a decision.
- Term limits
- Establish term limits for mayor and city council members at no more than three three-year terms. If approved, it would go into effect May 2025.
- Establish a limit of three three-year terms for all city boards and commissions. If approved, it would go into effect May 2025.
- City manager hiring decisions
- Give the city manager the ability to hire and remove all city department heads and employees except the fire chief and police chief. Those position decisions require city council approval.
- City attorney’s role
- Eliminate a requirement that the city attorney approve “as to form” all deeds, deeds of trust, easements, releases, contracts and more on behalf of the city. The city attorney will still review the documents but will not be mandated to sign them.
- Official notices
- Allow the city to publish notices on the city’s website and/or in the official newspaper or any other forms of media required by law
- Various other charter changes
- Relocate the chapter in the charter titled “Tax Administration” to the “Finance Department” section of the charter without any other amendments
- Amend the charter to clarify “City Council” includes the mayor and all six council members seats
- Amend language in the charter to comply with new federal and state laws
- Amend the charter to correct outdated terminology and grammatical and numbering errors
Proposition 2, which would implement term limits for city council and the mayor, originally included language that would have it go into effect in May 2026. Council members voted 5-1 to move the date to May 2025.
Council member Wende Wiggington was the sole vote against.
The original plan for the ballot also included 11 propositions but one was removed due to similar language in another. Both propositions dealt with fixing grammatical errors in the charter.
The setup
Council members have discussed the charter amendments before.
A 17-member Charter Review Commission was created in October and tasked with reviewing the city’s charter to identify any needed amendments. Their recommendations were presented in January.
What they’re saying
While all of the propositions were ultimately placed on the ballot, some council members did speak out against some of the items for a variety of reasons.
Council member Andy Hopkins said he was against the idea of term limits but “would not stand in the way” of the final decision and the Charter Review Commission’s recommendation.
“We’re talking about instituting term limits when we can’t even get enough people to run,” council member Eddie Cawlfield said.
Going forward
The charter amendments will appear on the May 3 ballot.
Also on the ballot is a contested race for the Place 1 seat on council.
Other dates to know are:
- Last day to register to vote: April 3
- First day of early voting: April 22
- Last day of early voting: April 29
