The Kennedale City Charter, adopted in 1997, is being reviewed this year by a group of citizens selected by the Kennedale City Council, according to Kennedale Mayor Brian Johnson. {{more}}
The city charter is a document that outlines the powers, organization, functions, and essential procedures of operation of the city, in other words, a constitution. A charter is required of a city before it can become a ?home rule? city. Cities want this designation because it allows them to govern themselves as opposed to only what is allowed by the state law.
Kennedale had to wait until it had reached the mandated minimum population of 5,000 citizens but as soon as that had happened in the late 1990?s, a home rule charter commission was appointed. The Commission drafted the charter that was approved by the citizens of Kennedale in 1997. See Kennedale City
Charter
?Typically cities review their charters every two to five years?, said Johnson in the November issue of the TownCenter
Herald, ?but Kennedale has not done so since the document?s adoption in 1997. One of council?s goals for the upcoming year is a charter review. To that end, we?ve assembled a group of residents, some of whom served on the original charter committee, to recommend changes and updates.?
Any changes recommended by the committee will be voted on by residents in the May 2016 election. The Charter Review Committee members are Frank Fernandez, Charles Overstreet, Earnest Harvey, Robert Mundy, John Clark, and Ray Cowan.
