The city of Garland held general and special elections Saturday, May 4. The elections included a race for a new District 2 Council Member and approval of 17 amendments to the City Charter.
Kris Beard won the District 2 City Council seat and all of the proposed charter amendments were approved.
In addition, the terms of Council Member Jeff Bass (D1), Council Member B.J. Williams (D4) and Council Member Margaret Lucht (D5) had ended, and each ran unopposed for re-election.
Purpose of City Charter:
The City Charter establishes the city’s general powers, duties and administrative structure. The charter cannot be changed by the City Council, but only by a majority vote of qualified residents. The Garland City Charter was last amended in 2018.
Amendments to City Charter, which were all approved, are below:
- Proposition A: An amendment to redefine “term” to mean in excess of annual consecutive statutory election dates
- Proposition B: An amendment to mirror state redistricting law of 10-year intervals
- Proposition C: An amendment to add protections against gerrymandering
- Proposition D: An amendment to the qualifications of Council members
- Proposition E: An amendment to increase the compensation for Mayor and Council members
- Proposition F: An amendment to add gender-neutral language consistent with the rest of the charter
- Proposition G: An amendment to add a reference to the Deputy Mayor Pro Tem position on Council
- Proposition H: An amendment to add a 30-day deadline for the Governor to respond to an election petition from the City before the City Council can fulfill the vacancy by appointment
- Proposition I: An amendment to clarify the Council-appointed positions to which the removal procedure applies
- Proposition J: An amendment to change the enforcement procedure of improper communication with appointments to be pursuant to the City’s Code of Ethics
- Propositions K-M: Amendments to change the allowed contract of the City Auditor, City Manager and City Attorney to not exceed five years
- Proposition N: An amendment to clarify the circumstances of the Mayor’s appointment to a vacancy on the Plan Commission
- Proposition O: An amendment to simplify and clarify the zoning powers of the City to be consistent with City ordinances and state law
- Proposition P: An amendment to add the allowance of delegation of certain plat approval pursuant to recent changes in state law
- Proposition Q: An amendment to remove the specific reference to May and be consistent with any statutorily designated uniform election date