First revision of city charter in 18 years.
Early voting in the Cityof Kennedale
will begin on Monday 25 and will continue until Monday, May 3rd with election day scheduled on May 7th. On the ballot are 7 amendments to the city?s charter. {{more:[read more]}}No election for council this year
Normally, candidates for elected city offices would be on the ballot but this year all incumbents were unopposed and will be reappointed in the May Council meeting. This year the office of the Mayor and City Council Places 2 & 4 were up for election. Being reappointed in May will be Mayor {{t2:Brian Johnson:
}}, Place 2 Council member {{t2:Liz Carrington:
}} and Place 4 Council member {{t2:Kelly Turner:
}}.
Charter amendments are on the ballot …
Last year the Kennedale
City Council appointed a committee to do a complete review of the city?s charter. As a result the committee decided that there were several areas that needed to be clarified and/or changed. These were recommended to the Council and formulated into seven amendments. These proposed amendments would be the first changes in the charter since its adoption in 1998. Kennedale residents (registered voters) will have an opportunity to vote yea or nay on each one of the proposals in the scheduled election.
Summary of amendments ?
- Amendment 1 determines how vacancies will be filled if the terms of elected officials are three years (see Amendment 4 below).
- Amendment 2 specifies that the City Council may determine if a condition(s) exist for the forfeiture (removal or loss) of office by an elected city official.
- Amendment 3 clarifies what constitutes a quorum to conduct council business by stating that the Mayor will not be used to make the required majority of at least three council members.
- Amendment 4 changes the present 2 year terms of the office for the Mayor and City Council to three years. Kennedale ISD uses a similar 3 year term for the elected Board of Trustees. It would be effective with the 2017 election cycle. The Mayor and city council members would still be elected in staggered terms (elected in alternate years).
- Amendment 5 establishes the authority of hiring city staff with the City Council given the power of appointment of the City Secretary upon recommendation of the City Manager and allows the City Manager to appoint assisting city secretaries as authorized by the City Council.
- Amendment 6 will changed the final date of the submission to the city council of a balanced city budget from the first of day of August to the 15th day of August.
- Amendment 7 will changed the deadline for the submission of an annual audit by an independent certified accounting firm from 120 days after end of the budget year to 180 days.
As a home rule city, Kennedale has the full power of local self-government. The governmental structure and division of power are established in the city’s charter, which was written in 1997 and adopted by election on January 17, 1998.
A charter is essentially a city?s constitution. The Kennedale City Charter defines Kennedale as a Council-Manager form of government, which means that the City Council led by the Mayor is vested with all powers of the city. The Mayor and five councilmembers are elected at-large by a majority vote of the qualified voters of the city. As it presently constituted each elected official serves a two-year term with no term limits. The Council enacts legislation, adopts budgets, and determines policies.
