“This is your charter,” City Attorney Gary Scott said. “It’s not the state of Texas’s charter. It’s not the attorney general’s charter. It’s not anyone in Austin’s charter ... it is the citizens of Conroe’s charter.”
Why it matters
Scott said the charter has not undergone a full review in more than a decade. Past proposals from former Mayor Jody Czajkoski included a switch to a council-manager form of government. The last charter changes in 2014 included adjustments to court judge appointments and changes to council term lengths from two years to four years.
“When [Czajkoski] came on and he won mayor, one of his first meetings with me, or one of the earlier meetings with me, he saw that we need to have our charter reviewed, because it had been 11 to 10 years. We needed to have the charter reviewed,” Scott said.
City charter amendments recently became a topic of conversation after City Council debated what constitutes a quorum, as previously reported.
“You fast forward into a couple months ago, and it became a big issue ... It was a big issue over the quorum issue, and people meeting and all that,” Scott said.
Attorney Charles Zech will spearhead the city charter amendments and act as legal counsel for the process, Deputy City Administrator Nancy Mikeska said.
Zech said amendments that are being looked into are related to annexation, quorum rules, a council-manager form of government, financial disclosures, council compensation and methods for calling special council meetings.
Zech also said that about 85% to 90% of home-rule charters in Texas use a council-manager form of governing.
Before you go
Residents voiced concerns about spending, government transparency and future growth.
Resident Kim Mateo called for a charter amendment limiting city spending to core functions like police, fire, water, sewage and roads.
“Any large-scale project outside of that defined scope must go to the citizens for a vote before it can be approved or funded,” Mateo said.
Another resident said there is a need for open dialogue among all council members when major decisions are made, and the mayor should have a vote.
Zech said any proposed amendments would ultimately require City Council approval to be placed on a future ballot, at which point citizens would vote.
