Charter push seeks more council power
A coalition pushing to give Houston City Council members more input at City Hall says it has gathered the required 20,000 signatures to place a charter amendment on the ballot.
The measure, if approved by voters, would allow any three City Council members to place an item on the council’s weekly agenda. Right now, the mayor has near-full control of the agenda. That allows the mayor to block measures he or she does not support.
Houston has a strong-mayor form of government that gives the chief executive far-reaching powers over the city’s day-to-day business. The city charter currently allows three council members to call a special meeting and set its agenda. That power is rarely used, however, and typically occurs as a rebuke of the mayor, failing to attract the majority of council needed to conduct business.
The coalition said it will deliver the signatures, which it began collecting in October, to City Hall on Monday and is eyeing a referendum on the November ballot this year. The coalition is a widely diverse group of organizations, including the Houston firefighters’ union, the Harris County Republican Party, Urban Reform, Indivisible Houston, the Houston chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America and Houston Justice
The city secretary will have 30 days to validate the signatures, and then council will have to put the measure on the ballot for the next election date. The organizers apparently missed the deadline to get on the May 1 ballot, which was Feb. 12, according to the secretary of state’s website. The next election date is Nov. 2. The last day to order an election for that date is Aug. 16.
Charles Blain, an organizer with the coalition and president of the conservative Urban Reform, declined to say how many signatures the coalition gathered. That will be revealed at a
Monday news conference, he said.
Blain argued the measure is needed to “finally get some resolution” to critical policy issues that have not reached the agenda.
“It’s important because the community deserves representation,” Blain said. “I know we all have district council members, but it’s incredibly frustrating that our district council members can’t team up with a few of their colleagues and get something on the agenda.”
Houston’s City Council has 11 districts, along with five at-large council members and the mayor.
Mayor Sylvester Turner has opposed the effort, saying it would cause “chaos and confusion” by allowing measures that have not been vetted to get council votes.
“This measure will make it more difficult to govern, create factionalism around the council table, added tensions and undue chaos. It is a formula for dysfunction,” Turner said late Thursday.
Petition organizers have argued that any agenda items still would need a majority vote for approval, which they say would discourage frivolous proposals or political stunts.
At least one council member, Amy Peck of District A, publicly has supported the petition.
Most Texas cities use a form of government that features a weaker mayor, often accompanied by a city manager tasked with administering city services. Dallas, San Antonio, Austin and Forth Worth all use forms of that system.
Some also allow council members to put items onto the agenda. In San Antonio, for example, half of the 10-member council can insert a measure on the agenda by signing onto a so-called Council Consideration Request.