1976-007AN ORDINANCE ORDERING A SPECIAL HOME RULE ELECTION IN THE CITY
OF DENTON, TEXAS, TO BE HELD ON SATURDAY, THE 3RD DAY OF APRIL,
1976, FOR THE PURPOSE OF SUBMITTING TO THE QUALIFIED VOTERS OF
THE CITY, FOR ADOPTION OR REJECTION, PROPOSED AMENDMENTS TO THE
EXISTING CHARTER OF THE CITY OF DENTON, DESIGNATING THE POLLING
PLACE, APPOINTING ELECTION OFFICIALS, PROVIDING THAT ALL DULY
QUALIFIED RESIDENT ELECTORS SHALL BE QUALIFIED TO VOTE, PRESCRIB-
ING FORM OF BALLOTS, PROVIDING FOR NOTICE OF ELECTION, CONTAINING
OTHER PROVISIONS RELATING TO SAID ELECTION, PROVIDING FOR SEVER-
ABILITY, AND DECLARING AN EMERGENCY
WHEREAS, the City Councal of the Caty of Denton in the exer-
case of sound dascretlon purged an it by the Constatut~on and laws
of thas State, and more particularly Articles 1165-1174, ~noluslve,
Vernon's Annotated Caval Statutes, relating to the amendment of
Caty Charters by cataes havang more than fave thousand (5,000) ln-
habatants, deems at wise and expedaent to submit proposed amendments
to the exastang Charter of the City, hereinafter set forth at a
specaal election to be held at said Caty on Saturday, the 3rd day
of April, 1976,
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE
CITY OF DENTON, TEXAS
SECTION I
That a speclal elect~on to be held an the C~ty of Denton, Texas,
on Saturday, the 3rd day of April, 1976, for the purpose of submit-
ting to the qualafled voters of the C~ty, for adoption or re~ect~on,
the following proposed amendments to the exast~ng Charter of the
Clty of Denton
S~CTION II
Sa~d elect~on shall be held at one pollang place for all qual-
· faed voters of the Clty, and the polling place and presiding offa-
eers for sa~d elect~on shall be, tow~t
P011~n~ Place - Community Bualdlng of the Civic Center at
Bell and East MeKinney, Denton, Texas
Pres~d~n~ Officers - Lee Knox
Presiding Judge, B~i Mlller Alternate Pre-
sldlng Judge The presiding judge at sa~d election shall
appoint not less than two (2) clerks
SECTION III
That said election shall be held ~n accordance w~th the
Constitution and laws of the State of Texas, and all duly
qualzf~ed resident electors of the C~ty of Denton, Texas shall
be qualified to vote
SECTION IV
That each proposed charter amendment shall be separate and
d~stlnct so that the voters shall pass upon each one separately
and a part from another and so that each voter may vote "Yes" or
"No" on any amendment or amendments w~thout voting yes or no on
all of said amendments That absentee voting shall be on paper
ballots, and such ballots shall conform to the requirements of
Article 6 05 of the Electlon Code of the State of Texas, as amended,
whzch provides that a square shall be placed beside the proposed
amendment, ~n which the voter Ks requested to place an "X" or
other clear mark to lndzcate the way he wishes to vote, but which
also provldes that a fallure of a voter to mark his ballot ~n strzct
conformmty with the lnstructzons on the ballot shall not ~nvalzdate
the ballot, and the ballot shall be counted ~f the ~ntentlon of the
voter zs clearly ascertaznable, accept where the law expressly pro-
hlbzts the countlng of the ballot It is speclflcally provided that
the election officers shall not refuse to count a ballot because of
a voter having marked hzs ballot by scratching out the amendment
for whl~h he does not wish to vote
SECTION V
That the ballots of the election shall conform to the require-
ments of the Electlon Code of the State of Texas, as amended, and
the language to be prznted thereon lnclude the following
OFFICIAL BALLOT
Official Ballot Instructions - Place an "X" ~n the square
beside the statement ~ndlcat~ng the way you wzsh to vote
Note Vote on all amendments separately either FOR or
AGAINST
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AMENDMENT NO ONE
[ ] FOR SECTION 2 01 THE COUNCIL, NUMBER, SELECTION,
& TERM
[ ] AGAINST
The Council shall have five members elected by
the qualified voters of the entire city, but
each councllperson shall be elected to and occupy
a place on the council, such places being Numbered
One, Two, Three, Four and Five The places of the
counc~lperson shall be designated on the official
ballot as Coun¢llperson Places One, Two, Three,
Four, and Flve The members of the Council shall
be elected ~n the manner prescribed ~n Article 3,
for a term of two years and until their respective
successors have been elected and quallfled
(b) Three councllpersons shall be elected on the
f~rst Saturday ~n April, 1977 At this election
the candidate who receives the majority of the votes
cast for each place shall be declared elected to
that place The places to be f~lled shall be Places
One, Two and Three The two carry-over members shall
fill Places Four and F~ve and shall serve the balance
of their term until their successors are elected and
quallf~ed Thereafter, three councllpersons shall be
elected in each odd-numbered year for Places One,
Two and Three and two counc~lpersons shall be elected
in even-n~mbered year to Places Four and Five
SECTION 3 04 CANVASS ELECTION RETURNS, RESULTS
(a) Immedlately after counting the votes, the pre-
s~d~ng judge shall deliver the official returns of
the elect~on to the C~ty Secretary On the next
Tuesday following the electmon, the City Council
shall canvass the returns and declare the results
The returns of every municipal election shall be
recorded in the m~nutes of the Council
(b) The candidates receiving the ma]or~ty of the
votes cast for each place shall be declared elected
If no candldate receives a majority, or if there
is a tie for any one place, the Council shall order
a second election to be held on the fourteenth day
after the first election to fill that place Only
the names of the candidates who t~e for the h~ghest
number of votes cast for that place, or the two can-
d~dates who receive the h~ghest number of votes with
neither havlng a ma3orlty of votes cast for that
place, shall be printed on the ballot for each elec-
t~on In the event of a tie vote at the second elec-
t~on, the candidates who t~e shall cast lots ~n the
presence of the City Secretary to determine which
one shall be declared elected, and said lots shall
be cast within five days of the second election
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AMENDMENT NO TWO
[ ] FOR SECTION 2 04 VACANCIES IN COUNCIL
[ ] AGAINST Where a vacancy in any place on the Council shall
occur, the vacant place shall be filled by a
special election, and, where necessary, by a run-
off electIon, ~n the same manner as provided ~n
this charter for the regular elect~on of the
coun¢llperson Such special elect~on shall be held
on a Saturday w~thln slxty days following the crea-
tion of the vacancy, and the runoff election, where
necessary, shall be held on the fourteenth day after
the preceding elect~on, provided, however, that where
a vacancy shall occur within one h~ndred and twenty
days of a regular election, no special election to
f~ll the vacancy shall be called, unless more than
one vacancy Occurs
AMENDMENT NO THREE
[ ] FOR SECTION 2 06 QUORUM VOTING
[ ] AGAINST (a) Any three members of the Council shall consti-
tute a quorum for the transaction of bus~ness, and
the aff~rmatlve vote of three members of the Council
shall be necessary to repeal any ordinance or to take
any official action ~n the name of the city, except
that a four-flfths vote of the total membership shall
be requlred to override a decision of the Planning
and Zoning Commission and except as otherwise provided
in this Charter or by the general laws of the State
of Texas
AMENDMENT NO FOUR
[ ] FOR SECTION 2 08 POWERS OF THE COUNCIL
[ ] AGAINST (c) To approve members of all Boards, Commissions,
and Committees serving the City
AMENDMENT NO FIVE
[ ] FOR SECTION 7 10 PURCHASE PROCEDURE
[ ] AGAINST (b) The City Manager shall have authorIty to auth-
orlze expendltures without approval of the City
Coun¢ll for all budgeted items not exceeding three
thousand dollars ($3,000 00) Ail contracts or pur-
chases involving the expenditure of more than three
thousand dollars ($3,000 00) shall be expressly
approved ~n advance by the City Council and shall
be let to the lowest and best bid by a responsible
bidder after there has been an opportunity for com-
petitive b~ddlng, provided that C~ty Council shall
have the r~ght to reject any and all bids
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AMENDMENT NO SIX
[ ] FOR SECTION 8 03 PREPARATION AND SUBMISSION OF BUDGET
[ ] AGAINST At least sixty days before the end of each fascal
year, the City Manager shall submat to the Councal
a proposed budget for the ensuang fascal year The
budget shall provide a complete financial plan for
the fmscal year, and the budget shall be prepared
on the basis of policy praor~taes defined by the
Council for the Caty Manager at least one hundred
twenty days before the end of the fiscal year
AMENDMENT NO SEVEN
[ ] FOR SECTION 10 02 PLANNING AND ZONING COMMISSION
[ ] AGAINST (a) There shall be a Plannmng and Zonzng Commission
which shall consmst of seven real property taxpayers,
who during their respective terms of offmce and for
at least one year prior to begmnnang thereof, shall
be residents of the Cmty of Denton They shall be
appointed by the Council for a term of two years,
provzded four members shall be appointed each odd-
numbered year and three members each even-numbered
year The Cmty Manager, Mayor, and Dmrector of Com-
munmty Development shall serve as ex-offzclo members
of the Commisszon, but shall have no vote
(b) None of the appoanted members shall hold any
other public office or position an the City whale
serving on the Planning and Zoning Commasslon The
Planning and Zoning Commission shall elect ars Chair-
man from among zts members Seven members shall serve
wzthout pay and shall adopt such rules and regulations
as they deem best governing their actmons, proceedmngs,
d~llberatlons, and times and places of meetings
AMENDMENT NO EIGHT
[ ] FOR SECTION 12 07 THE PUBLIC UTILITIES BOARD
[ ] AGAINST (a) There is hereby created a Public Utllatles Board
to be composed of fzve members, appoznted by the
Council for four year terms and until their respective
successors have been appointed and qualmfaed, pro-
vzded that the members of the fmrst board appointed
under this provasaon shall at their organazataonal
meetmng draw for terms as follows one shall draw
a one year term, one a two year term, one a three
year term, and two shall draw four year terms, and
at the expmrataon of each of the terms so provaded
for, a member successor shall be appointed for a term
of four years Members of the board may be removed
by the Counczl only for cause and only after charges
have been f~led and publzshed and the member has been
given a reasonable opportunity to defend hmmself an
an open publac hearing before the Council Vacancaes
shall be filled for any unexpared term an the same
manner as provided for regular appointments
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AMENDMENT NO NINE
[ ] FOR SECTION 3 01 MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS
[ ] AGAINST (a) The regular election for the choice of mem-
bers of the City Council as provided ~n Article
2 shall be held each year on the f~rst Saturday
in April The Council may by resolution order
special elections which shall be held as nearly
as practicable according to the provisions for
a regular election The hours and places for
holding all city elect~ons shall be determIned
by the City Council
SECTION VI
That this ordinance shall take effect and be ~n full force
and effect from and after the date of its passage
PASSED and APPROVED this the //~day of February, A D 1976
D mYO
CITY OF FTON, ) AS
ATTEST
B~0Q~ HOLT, CITY SECRETARY
CITY OF DENTON, TEXAS
APPROVED AS TO LEGAL FORM
~'PA-UL C ISHAM, CITY ATTORNEY
CITY OF DENTON, TEXAS
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