Forms of Home Charter City Gov. Report Oct. 1986 FORMS OF HOME CHARTER
CITY GOVERNMENT
REPORT
October 1986
Joe L. Bentley
M.R. (Pat) Hawk
Gary M. McGrath
INTRODUCTION
This subcommittee of the City Charter Commission set out to
evaluate the various home rule forms of city government used
in Texas to determine which form was most appropriate for
the rather unique nature of Southlake. The challenge was to
choose a form which was acceptable not only for the near
term, but one that would stand the test of time as Southlake
continues to mature.
FORMS OF CITY GOVERNMENT
The method chosen was to review the most popular forms in
use, evaluate their strengths and weaknesses, and assess
those attributes most appropriate for use in Southlake.
Those forms now in use in Texas are:
o Council, Manager
o Mayor, Council
o Mayor, Council, Administrator
o Commission, Manager
o Council
o Commission
While it appears there are six variations, there are really
only three primary differences. They are:
Mayor - The position of Mayor can be strong when the mayor
in fact manages the city -- hires and fires personnel -- and
probably should be a full-time position. The alternative is
a mayor who chairs the Council and is primarily a titular
head. More will be said under a discussion of mayoral
powers.
Council/Commission - A council is usually a policy making
body, while a commission usually has more direct involvement
in the daily administration of city affairs such as direct
control of departments.
Manager/Administrator - A city manager usually has
administrative control of the city -- hires and fires
department heads and directs the daily affairs of the city.
The city manager is hired by the council to run the city in
a professional manner. An administrator is usually an
assistant to the mayor -- hired by the mayor -- and has only
those powers conveyed by the mayor or the council.
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FORMS USAGE
A survey of forms in use indicated that over 90% currently
use the council/manager form of city government. The survey
also provided insight into the mayoral choice and powers
most often occurring, election and size of council, and
powers most often conveyed to a city manager.
Powers of Mayor - Those powers normally conveyed to a mayor
are shown in Table 1. For each power shown, the percentages
of cities conveying that power are also shown.
TABLE 1
POWERS OF MAYOR
Power Number Percent
o Presiding Officer of the Council 212 100
o Discretionary Authority to Call 135 90
Special Meetings*
o Regular Vote Equal to Other 130 61
Council Members
o Offers Motions 98 46
o Votes Only in Case of Tie 79 37
o Veto Power 21 10
* For special meetings, N = 150
For all other provisions, N = 212
As for veto power, Texas municipalities do adhere to the
warning contained in the Model Charter: "Assigning the veto
power to the mayor is especially inappropriate. He is a
member of the legislative body (in fact, chief legislator)
and should not be able to veto the action of his fellow
legislators. " Mayors are given veto power in only 10% of
the Texas home rule charters included in a recent survey.
Of those, the mayor's veto can be overridden by a majority
vote of the council in eleven cities, a three-fourths vote
in four cities, a four-fifths vote in two cities, a two-
thirds vote in two cities, a three-fifths vote in one city,
and by unanimous vote in one city.
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City Council - In addition to being the law-making body of
the city, council can investigate the conduct of any
department, office, officer, or employee of the city under
most charters. The city council is always the policy making
body for the city. Only under the commission form of city
government does this body become involved in the
administration of city government. This power is not
favored by a majority of the home rule cities.
The council is elected by the procedures shown in Table 2 .
As can be seen by inspection of the information, cities in
the size grouping of Southlake favor either election "at
large" or "at large by place. "
TABLE 2
CITY SIZE BY COUNCIL ELECTION PROCEDURES
At
At Large
City Size Total At At Large Large Sngl Sngl
(000) in Group Large by Place w/Res Mbr Mbr
5 - 10 78 35 30 4 6 3
(100%) (45%) (38%) (5%) (8%) (4%)
10 - 30 88 34 31 5 9 9
(100%) (39%) (35%) (6%) (10%) (10%)
30 - 80 25 7 5 2 2 9
(100%) (28%) (20%) (8%) (8%) (36%)
80 - Over 17 2 2 3 5 5
(100%) (12%) (12%) (18%) (29%) (29%)
Total 208 78 68 14 22 26
(100%) (37%) (33%) (7%) (11%) (12%)
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The size of the council is also usually related to the
population size of the city. Cities the size of Southlake
usually seat four to six council people as shown in Table 3 .
TABLE 3
CITY SIZE BY COUNCIL SIZE
Four Seven
City Size Total Members Five Six Members
(000) in Group or Less Members Members or More
5 - 10 78 25 29 21 3
(100%) (32%) (37%) (27%) (4%)
10 - 30 89 33 23 25 8
(100%) (37%) (26%) (28%) (9%)
30 - 80 26 2 3 17 4
(100%) (8%) (12%) (65%) (15%)
80 - Over 17 3 2 4 8
(100%) (18%) (12%) (23%) (47%)
Total 210 63 57 67 23
The term of office for council members is two years in
eighty-two percent of cities reporting in the study, while
thirteen percent specify three-year terms and five percent
specify four-year terms. When considering terms greater
than two years, Article XI, Section 11, of the Texas
Constitution requires that home-rule cities which choose to
adopt terms greater than two years and not greater than the
allowable four-year term must elect all of the members of
the governing body by "majority vote of the qualified
voters. "
City Manager - Most cities favor a strong manager and assign
duties where a city manager is used, as shown in Table 4 .
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TABLE 4
DUTIES OF THE CITY MANAGER
Number Percent
Duty of Cities of Cities
o Hiring and Dismissal of 128 85
Department Heads and
Other Employees
o Supervision of All 126 84
Municipal Departments
o Preparation and Execution 126 84
of the City' s Annual Budget
o Preparation of Periodic 122 81
Financial Reports
o Preparation of Periodic 98 65
Reports on the ',State of
the City,'
o Attendance at Council Meetings 97 65
o Preparation of Council Agendas 30 20
Boards and Commissions - There are certain boards and
commissions required by statute. Those in existence are
usually continued under the charter. The charter typically
also allows for the establishment of additional boards and
commissions needed by ordinance. Citizens advisory
committees, ad hoc by nature, can be established by the
council less formally (by resolution) .
Administrative Departments - These are handled in two ways
by charter. Some identify the basic departments such as:
o Municipal Court (City Judge) *
o City Attorney *
o City Secretary *
o Police Department
o Fire Department
Other department heads can be created or abolished then by
ordinance. The other approach is to identify only those
required by statute (*) and establish all others ordinance.
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RECOMMENDATIONS
1. We propose that this commission incorporate the
"Council-Manager" form of government in the charter. As
Southlake grows, we feel that the management of
Southlake would best reside in the hands of a full-time
professional manager chosen by the council.
2 . We propose that the mayor continue to be selected by
popular vote, and that the mayor vote on council actions
only in case of tie. We further propose the mayor have
no veto powers, but establishes council meeting agendas.
3 . We propose that the council consist of five members
elected "at large" to serve terms of two years,
staggered as they are now, with the mayor elected with
two council people. We propose that the council have
all powers existing by statute. We propose that the
council have the authority to investigate the conduct of
any department, office, officer, or employee of the
city.
4 . We propose that the city manager be selected by the
council and have the following duties:
o Hiring and dismissal of department heads and other
employees
o Supervision of all municipal departments
o Preparation and execution of the city' s annual
budget
o Preparation of periodic financial reports
o Preparation of periodic reports on the "state of
the city"
o Attendance at council meetings
5. We propose that existing boards, commissions, and ad hoc
committees be continued; that boards and commissions be
established or abolished by ordinance and ad hoc
committees be determined by less formal council action
(resolution) .
6. We propose that the basic department heads shown herein,
or currently in existence in Southlake, be established
under charter; that the addition or abolition of
departments be by ordinance.
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