The city of New Braunfels is considering forming a charter review commission after officials discovered a conflict between the city charter and the Texas Constitution regarding the New Braunfels mayoral race.
What you need to know
New Braunfels City Manager Robert Camareno said the most common composition of a charter review committee is a council-appointed citizen model, which is composed of seven members.
“An open and transparent process is to recommend to you all an application process where anyone that’s interested can actually apply to be considered for appointment to that commission,” Camareno said.
Each council member would appoint one resident from their district, and the mayor would appoint one at-large member. The commission would appoint a chairperson from the seven members, according to a May 26 City Council meeting presentation.
City staff is also recommending outside legal counsel support for the charter review and amendment election. Outside legal support helps educate the charter commission on election law and charter purposes, along with developing propositions to ensure ballot language compliance. Outside legal support provides a legal review of the existing charter and proposed amendments, according to the meeting presentation.
Council is anticipated to decide on the composition of the charter commission at the next council meeting, which is scheduled for June 8.
How we got here
Following the May 2 election, city officials reviewed the city charter, which states that the mayoral election is decided by the candidate who receives the most votes, or a plurality of votes, regardless of whether a candidate receives a majority. However, the city received information that this was incorrect under state law.
When a term of office exceeds two years, members of a municipality's governing body must be elected by a majority vote. Since the New Braunfels mayoral term is three years, a runoff must be held, according to the Texas Constitution.
What council is saying
Mayor Pro Tem Lawrence Spradley said he liked the idea of a seven-member commission and appointing someone.
Council member April Ryan said she slightly disagreed with Spradley. She said she would appreciate the application process being open to the public, with final approval from City Council. Ryan said there could be one representative from each district and one at-large member. Representatives would need to live within city limits and in the district they are wanting to represent.
“I would also appreciate a three-person ad hoc committee be added to y'all’s selection process for the law firm,” Ryan said.
Council member Mary Ann Labowski agreed with Ryan.
Council member Michael Capizzi said he wanted more time to review the options.
