The big picture
At a Feb. 10 meeting, Katy City Council voted to add five charter amendments to the uniform election ballots allowing residents to determine if the changes will be made to the city’s charter, which governs city operations.
The vote comes after council member Dan Smith proposed the changes at a Jan. 27 meeting following a recommendation for no changes from the city’s charter commission.
On the ballot
The charter amendments will be posed in a question format on the ballot requiring voters to answer with a yes or no to each proposed change, according to agenda documents.
Here’s what voters will see on the ballot:
Charter Proposition A
- Ballot language: Shall the city of Katy Charter be amended by amending Section 1(B), absence or disability of the mayor, of Article III, The Mayor, by allowing the mayor pro-term to retain voting privileges and count toward the quorum, but removing the power of the veto when acting in absence of the mayor?
- Simplified: Should the charter be clarified that the mayor pro-term should retain voting privileges to constitute a quorum when filling in for the mayor?
- Ballot language: Shall the city of Katy Charter be amended by amending Section 5, vacancy, of Article III, The Mayor to remove the automatic resignation of the mayor upon filing to become a candidate for nomination or election to public office if that filing occurs when the unexpired term of the office then held does not exceed one year and 30 days?
- Simplified: Should the mayor be able to stay in office until elected to another position instead of resigning to campaign if they have less than one year and 30 days left in their term?
- Ballot language: Shall the city of Katy Charter be amended by amending Section 4, vacancy, of Article IV, the council, to remove the automatic resignation of a member of the council upon filing to become a candidate for nomination or election to public office if that filing occurs when the unexpired term of the office then held does not exceed one year and 30 days?
- Simplified: Should council members be able to stay in office until elected to another position instead of resigning to campaign if they have less than one year and 30 days left in their term?
- Ballot language: Shall the city of Katy Charter be amended by amending subsection (B)(2) of Section 6, powers of the mayor, of Article III, The Mayor, to provide department heads removed by the mayor to seek reinstatement of employment through an appeal to City Council?
- Simplified: Should city department heads have the right to appeal terminations to City Council?
- Ballot language: Shall the city of Katy Charter be amended by amending Section 2, Term, of Article IV, The Council, to increase the number of consecutive terms for the office of the council member from two consecutive terms to four consecutive terms, inclusive of time already served, and prohibit an individual from serving as a council member, whether in Ward A, Ward B or At-Large, for more than the maximum permissible consecutive terms?
- Simplified: Should the maximum number of consecutive terms for council members increase from two to four three-year terms?
What they’re saying
At the Jan. 27 meeting, it initially was proposed that term limits be eliminated for both the mayor and City Council positions, although after hearing feedback from the public, Smith proposed the terms be raised from two consecutive three-year terms to four consecutive terms.
“We’ve heard from our constituents that they do want a limit,” he said. “They think two [terms] is a pretty small number, and this gives them the ability to decide, and if they don’t want four then they will vote no.”
Meanwhile, Corte, who voted against adding extended term limits to the ballot alongside Hicks, said she believes extending term limits could discourage other residents from running against incumbents.
“All you’re doing is intimidating people from running against [an existing council member],” Corte said. “I’ve had four people come and talk to me about running for my position next year—each one of them have said we didn’t want to run against you, we were waiting for you to term out. You need to bring new people to council, people with different ideas on different backgrounds, new blood. This is just wrong.”
Diving in deeper
Mayor William “Dusty” Thiele, who is not a voting member of council, said he disagreed with how the charter amendments were proposed.
“I don’t believe this was handled properly and that it went through the proper channels—it should have gone through the Charter Review committee,” he said. “If it had, council would have been able to approve, deny or amend at that time,”
Former Mayor J.W. “Skip” Conner, who served as chairman of the city’s Charter Review Commission, also expressed his displeasure about the amendments proposal after no council members or the public attended the commission meetings. Several other public speakers also spoke against the proposal.
“I was very disappointed when another council member submitted several [amendments] to the full City Council regarding changes to the charter,” Conner said. “It just doesn’t sit well with me or any of our commission members that the items were not first presented to us for review. Why have a charter review? They’re not going to listen to us.”
However, Smith said since the city will already have an election since Thiele isn’t running unopposed, he didn’t see an issue with adding the proposed amendments.
“Since we are having this election, I don’t see why we would put off to tomorrow what we can do today,” he said. “From a timing perspective, this had to come in the way that it did ... and I’ll tell you, I’ll look you in the eye and say if you want someone to blame, blame me.”
What else?
Voters will also weigh in on who will be the city’s next mayor in the May 3 election. The position is currently held by Thiele, who assumed the role in May 2022.
As of Feb. 11, only Thiele and challenger Michael Payne, an information technology manager, had filed for the position, although the deadline to file for the position is Feb. 14 at 5 p.m., according to the city’s website.
Looking ahead
The uniform election will be held May 3, with early voting running from April 21-29, according to the Texas Secretary of State website.
