1968-036AN ORDINANCE ORDERING A SPECIAL ELECTION TO BE HELD IN THE CITY
OF DENTON, TEXAS, ON THE QUESTION OF AMENDING THE CHARTER OF
THE CITY OF DENTON, DESIGNATING THE DAY OF THE ELECTION AND THE
POLLING PLACE, APPOINTING ELECTION OFFICIALS THEREFOR, PROVID-
ING THAT ALL DULY QUALIFIED RESIDENT ELECTORS SHALL BE QUALIFIED
TO VOTE, PRESCRIBING FORM OF BALLOT, PROVIDING FOR NOTICE OF
ELECTION, CONTAINING OTHER PROVISIONS RELATING TO SAID ELECTION,
PROVIDING FOR SEVERABILITY, AND DECLARING AN EMERGENCY
WHEREAS, Article 1170 of Vernon's Texas C~wl Statutes
authorizes the governing body of the City of Denton, Texas, to
call an elect~on for the purpose of submitting any proposed
amendments to ~ts existing charter, NOW THEREFORE,
THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF DENTON, TEXAS, HEREBY ORDAINS
SECTION I
That a special elect~on shall be held in and throughout
the City of Denton, Texas, on the 25th day of January, 1969, at
which elect~on there shall be submitted to the resident qualifi-
ed voters of sa~d City, for their action thereupon, the charter
amendments set forth in Section IV hereof, ~n the OFFICIAL BALLOT
included ~n this ordinance
SECTIQN II
That said elect~on shall be held at one polling place for
all qualified voters of said City, and the polling place and
presiding officers for said election shall be, to wit
POLLING PLACE PRESIDING OFFICERS
COMMUNITY BUILDING ~£~Z~
CIVIC CENTER PRESIDING JUDGE
AT BELL AND EAST MCKINNEY
DENTON, TEXAS ,~ L.o C~#~¢~
ALTERNATE PRESIDING JUDGk
The presiding judge at such election shall appoint not
less than two (2) clerks
SECTION III
That said election shall be held in accordance with the
Constitution and laws of the State of Texas, and all duly qualifi-
ed resident electors of the C~ty of Denton, Texas, shall be quail-
fled, to vote
SECTION IV
That the ballots of said election shall conform to the re-
Quirements of Chapter 6 of the Election Code of the State of
Texa~, as amended, and the language ~o be printed thereon shall
include the following
OFFICIAL BALLOT
INSTRUCTIONS Place an "X" in the square beside the state-
ment Indicating the way you w~sh to vote (NOTE Vote on all
amendments, separately, either FOR or AGAINST )
AMENDMENT NO 1
[ ] FOR
[ ] AGAINST SECTION 2 O1 THE COUNCIL - NUMBER, SELECTION
AND TERM
(a) The Council shall consist of seven members,
one of which shall be Mayor, elected in the
manner prescribed below for a term of two (2)
years and until their respective successors
have been elected and qualified
SECTION 2 O1
(b) The members of the C~ty Council shall be
elected by the qualified voters of the entire
C~ty The person elected as Councilman, Place
7, shall be presiding officer who shall be
known as the Mayor of the C~ty of Denton, The
places of the several Councilmen shall be des-
~gnated on the official ballot as Member of
Council, Place No 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7
Places 1 through 4 shall be elected ~n even
numbered years Places 5 through 7 shall be
elected ~n odd numbered years
Any qualified person may select, or be nominat-
ed for, any place to be vacated by the next
C~ty elect~on as provided ~n Article III of
this Carter
A candidate for any place may reside ~n any
portion of the C~ty
SECTION 2 03 PRESIDING OFFICER MAYOR AND
MAYOR PRO TEM
The Council shall, as soon as possible after
the annual election, elect from ~ts membership
a Mayor Pro Tem The Mayor shall preside at
meetings of the Council and shall be reco§n~zed
as head of the C~ty Government for all cere-
monial purposes and by the Governor for purposes
of martial law but shall have no regular adminis-
trative duties The Mayor shall be entitled to
vote upon all matters considered by the Council
but he shall have no veto power The Mayor Pro
Tem shall act as Mayor during the absence or
d~sablllty of the Mayor and ~f a vacancy occurs
shall become Mayor for the completion of the
unexpired term
SECTION 2 06 QUORUM VOTING
(a) During the per~od of time when the Council
shall consist of the f~ve members required by
th~s Article and the holdover Commissioners who
are ~n off~ce at the time th~s Charter ~s adopt-
ed, a majority of all the members shall constitute
a quorum for the transaction of business, there-
after, any four members of the Council shall con-
statute a quorum for the transaction of business,
and the affirmative vote of four members of the
Council shall be necessary to repeal any ordinance
or take any official action ~n the name of the
C~ty except as otherwise prowded ~n this Charter
or by ~he general laws of the State of Texas
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SECTION 3 O1 MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS
(b) Three (3) Councilmen shall be elected on
the first Saturday in April, 1969 At this
election the candidate who receives the maj-
ority of votes cast for each place shall be
declared elected to that place The places
to be f~lled shall be Places 5, 6 and 7
Place 7 shall be the Mayor At the first
meet~n§ of this Council the two (2) carry over
members shall draw for Places 1, 2, 3 or 4
The two Councilmen who draw shall serve the
balance of their term until their successor ~s
elected and qualified Thereafter four (4)
Councilmen shall be elected on the first Sat-
urday in April of each even-numbered year and
three Councilmen shall be elected on the f~rst
Saturday ~n April of each odd-numbered year to
Places 1 through 4 and 5 through 7 respectively
SECTION 3 02 NOMINATIONS
(a) Any qualified person may have his name
placed on the ballot as a candidate for a place
on the Council by f~l~ng w~th the C~ty Secretary
not more than n~nety nor less than thirty days
prior to the date of election an application ~n
substantially the following form
I, , do hereby declare that I
am a candidate for the Council of the C~ty of
Denton, Place , and request that my name be
printed upon the Official Ballot for that off~ce
in the next City Elect~on I am qualified to
serve on the Council w~th respect to the quali-
fications set forth ~n the Charter I reside
at , Denton, Texas
Signed
The foregoing petition was f~led with the City
Secretary on the __ day of , 19
City Secretary
(b) An an alternative method, any qualified
person may be nominated for a place on the
Council by a written petition s~gned by thirty
qualified voters of the C~ty, provided the
candidate s~gns the petition certifying his
acceptance One such petition shall be c~r-
culated and s~gned for each nominee or cand~d-
ate With each signature shall be stated the
place of residence of the signer, g~vlng the
street and number or other description suffic-
ient to identify it Nominating petitions shall
be filed w~th the C~ty Secretary not more than
ninety days nor less than thirty days before
the election day, and shall be in substantially
the following form
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We, the undersigned electors of the City of
Denton, hereby nominate
whose residence address is
as a candidate for the Council of the City of
Denton, Place , to be voted for at the
election to be held on the day of
, 19 , a~ we individually
certify that we are ~lfled lo vote for a
candidate for the Council
Name Address Date of S~gnlng
(Spaces for thirty signatures and required
data)
Acceptance of Nomination
I am qualified to serve on the Council of the
City of Denton with respect to the qualifications
set forth ~n the Charter I hereby accept the
nomination for Councilman Place __, and agree
to serve if elected
S~gnature of Candidate
Statement of Circulator
The undersigned is the c~rculator of the fore-
going p~lt~on containing thirty signatures
Each signature was appended thereto in my
presence and is the genuine signature of the
person whose name it purports to be
Signature of C~rculator
Address of Circulator
The foregoing petition was f~led with the C~ty
Secretary on the __ day of , 19
SECTION 3 04
(b) The candidates receiving a majority of
the votes cast for each place shall be declared
elected If no candlate receive a majority,
or if there is a t~e, for any one place, the
Council shall order a second election to be
held on the fourteenth (14) day after the f~rst
election to fill that place Only the names
of the ~and~dates who t~e for the h~ghest number
of votes cast for that place, or the two (2)
candidates who receive the highest number of
votes w~th neither having a majority of the
votes cast for that place, shall be printed on
the ballot for each such place In the event
of a tie vote at the second election, the
candidates who t~e shall cast lots in the pre-
sence of the City Secretary to determine wh(ch
one shall be declared elected, and sa~d lots
Bhall be cast w~th~n f~ve (5) days of the
second elect~on
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AMENDMENT NO 2
[ ] FOR
[ ] AGAINST SECTION 2 09 ORDINANCES
(a) In addition to such acts of the Council
as are required by statute or by this Charter
to be by ordinance, every act of the Council
establishing a fine or other penalty or pro-
vldln§ for the expenditure of funds or for
the contracting of ~ndebtedness, shall be by
ordinance
AMENDMENT NO 3
[ ] FOR
[ ] AGAINST SECTION 3 O1 MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS
(a) The regular election for the choice of
members of the City Council as provided ~n
Article II Shall be held each year on the
first Saturday ~n April The Council may by
resolution order special elections, which
shall be held as nearly as practicable accord-
lng to the provisions for a regular election
The hours and places for holding all C~ty
Elections shall be determined by the C~ty
Council
SECTION 3 04 CANVASS ELECTION RETURNS,
RESULTS
(a) Immediately after counting the votes the
presiding election judge shall deliver the
official returns of the election to the C~ty
Secretary On the next Friday following the
election, the C~ty Council shall canvass the
returns and declare and results The returns
of every municipal election shall be recorded
~n the minutes of the Council
AMENDMENT NO 4
[ ] FOR
[ ] AGAINST SECTION 6 03 CORPORATION COURT
(b) The City Judge shall preside over the
Corporation Court The Judge shall be a
qualified attorney at law licensed to prac-
tice in the State of Texas He shall be
appointed by, and shall serve at the pleasure
of, the Council The C~ty Judge shall receive
such compensation as may be f~xed by the
Council
AMENDMENT NO 5
[ ] FOR
[ ] AGAINST SECTION 6 04 CLERK OF THE COURT
The Clerk of the Corporation Court shall have
the power to administer oaths and affidavits,
make certificates, affix the seal of the court,
and perform such other duties or acts as may
be necessary ~n lssulng process and conducting
the business of the Court
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AMENpMENT NO 6
[ ] FOR THE DELETION
[ ] AGAINST THE DELETION
Remuvlng and deleting the existing Section 10-12
of the Charter which reads as follows
SECTION 19-12 SLUM CLEARANCE AND REHABILITATION
OF BLIGHTED AREAS
The Council may adopt, modify and carry out
plans proposed by the Planning and Zoning Com-
mission for the clearance of slum districts
and blighted areas within tile City and, for
the accomplishment of this purpose, may acquire
by purchase or condemnation all privately owned
land, buildings, and other real property in-
terests within the district, may establish,
locate, relocate, build and improve the streets
and other public open spaces provided for ~n
the plan, may maintain, operate, lease or sell
said buildIngs or any of them, may sell the land
or any part thereof designated for buildings
and private open spaces upon such terms and con-
d]t]ons and sub3ect to such restrictions as to
building uses and open spaces as will substanti-
ally carry out and effect the plan
AMENDMENT NO 7
[ ] FOR
[ ] AGAINST SECTION 12 07 THE PUBLIC UTILITIES BOARD
(a) There is hereby created a Public Utilities
Board to be composed of five members, appointed
by the Council for four-year terms and until
their respective successors have been appointed
and qualified, provided, that the members of
the first Board appointed under th~s provision
shall, at their organizational meeting, 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
expiration of each of the terms so provided for,
a successor shall be appointed for a term of
four years Members of the Board may be removed
by the Council only for cause end only after
charges have been filed and published and the
member has been g~ven a reasonable opportunity
to defend himself ~n an open public hearing before
the Council Vacancies shall be f~lled for any
unexpired term In the same manner as provided for
regular appointments
SECTION V
That election judges and clerks are directed to comply with
Article 6 06, £1ect]on Code of the State of Texas, as amended
(Section 2 of House Bill 181, Acts 1967, 60th Legislature, Regular
Session, Chapter 452, Pages 1026, 1028), which provides that a
square shall be placed beside each proposition (amendment) ~n
which the voter is instructed to place an "X" or other clear mark
to ~nd]cate the way he wishes to vote, but which also provides
that failure of a voter to mark his ballot in strict conformity
with the directions on the ballot shall not ~nval]date the ballot,
and the ballot shall be counted if the intention of the voter Is
clearly ascertainable, except where the law expressly prohIbits
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the counting of the ballot It is specifically provided that
the election officers shall not refuse to count a ballot because
of the voter's having marked his ballot by scratching out the
statement or proposition for which he does not w~sh to vote
SECTION VI
That notice of the elect~on hereby ordered and called shall
be given (a) by publication on the same day of two successive
weeks ~n a newspaper of general c~rculatlon published w~thln
said City, the date of the f~rst publication to be at least
twenty-one (21) days prior to the date set here~n for such
elect~on, and (b) by posting of such not~ce at the polling place
of the City not less than twenty (20) days prior to the date
set here~n for such election It ~s hereby found and determined
thet the Denton Record-Chronicle is a newspaper published within
the C~ty of Denton, Texas, and ~s a newspaper of general circula-
tion w~th~n sa~d C~ty
PASSED AND APPROVED this /~7 ~'~day of December, A D 1968
C~TY OF DENTON, TEXAS
ATTEST
CITY OF DENTON, TEXAS
APPROVED AS TO LEGAL FORM
fyK Q BARTON, ~'ITY ATTORNEY
OF DENTON, TEXAS
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