Humble voters will have the opportunity to make their voices heard on nine city charter amendments and three council positions at the polls in May.
At its regular meeting Feb. 10, Humble City Council approved an ordinance ordering a general joint election to be held May 7 for council positions 3, 4 and 5, which are currently held by Bruce Davidson, Paula Settle and David Ray Pierce, respectively.
The first day to submit an application for a place on the ballot for the May 7 election was Jan. 19, and the last day will be Feb. 18. As of press time Feb. 10, all three incumbents had filed for candidacy with no challengers, according to the city of Humble's website.
Additionally, the council approved an ordinance ordering a special election to be held May 7 for nine propositions to amend the city's home rule charter. As previously reported by Community Impact Newspaper, the Humble City Charter Review Commission submitted its final report recommending changes to the city's charter in November. The charter was first adopted in 1970 and subsequently amended by voters in 1978, 1982, 1987, 1992, 1996 and 2000, according to city documents.
The proposed charter amendments regard the following:
- the powers and duties of the city manager;*
- council's power to set officer compensation and improve neighborhoods;
- the rearrangement, numbering and review of the city charter;
- the city's audit report, budget hearings and city contracts;
- the conduct of elections and qualifications for City Council;
- notice requirements for lawsuits against the city and actions by the city;
- officials' conflicts of interest;
- the elimination of outdated and unnecessary charter provisions; and
- misspellings and other nonsubstantive changes.
For more information about voting in the city of Humble, click here.
*While there are no proposed changes related to the city manager's powers and relationship to city council, added language is proposed to clarify and provide a better definition of the role and relationship of the city manager to city council. The proposition language is to bring the charter in line with how the city of Humble currently operates under a council-city manager form of government.
