2018 CHARTER REVIEW COMMISSION MARCH 5, 2018 at 6:30 P.M. Austin City Hall, Room 1029 301 W. 2nd Street AUSTIN, TEXAS CURRENT BOARD MEMBERS: Joy Authur Roger Borgelt Martha Cotera Matt Hersh Fred Lewis Diego Martinez-Moncada Karl-Thomas Musselman Jessica Palvino Jeff Smith Tane Ward Ingrid Weigand AGENDA CALL TO ORDER 1) CITIZEN COMMUNICATION: GENERAL (3 minutes to speak) The first 10 speakers signed up prior to the meeting being called to order will each be allowed a three-minute allotment to address their concerns regarding items not posted on the agenda. 2) APPROVAL OF MINUTES a) Approval of minutes from February 26, 2018 meeting. 3) NEW BUSINESS The Commission may discuss and take action on the following agenda items: a) Recommendation on Council Budget and Efficiency Officer. b) Recommendation on charter provisions related to terms and appointments of Planning Commission members. c) Recommendation from the City Auditor regarding staff of the Auditor’s Office being exempt from Municipal Civil Service. d) Recommendation from the Petition Working Group on revisions to the petition process. e) Recommendation from the Campaign Finance and Ethics Working Group on an Independent Ethics Review Commission. f) Discussion on the impact of redistricting on the 2022 Election. 4) FUTURE MEETING DATES AND AGENDA ITEMS The Commission may discuss and identify additional meeting dates and future agenda items, topics or presentations. ADJOURNMENT The City of Austin is committed to compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. Reasonable modifications and equal access to communications will be provided upon request. Meeting locations are planned with wheelchair access. If requiring Sign Language Interpreters or alternative formats, please give notice at least 2 days (48 hours) before the meeting date. Please call or email Myrna Rios or Jannette Goodall with the City Clerk’s Office, (512-974-2210 or myrna.rios@austintexas.gov or jannette.goodall@austintexas.gov), for additional information; TTY users route through Relay Texas at 711. For more information on the 2018 Charter Review Commission, please contact Jannette Goodall at 512-974-2210.
PROPOSED CHAPTER 2.9. CITY BUDGET AND EFFICIENCY OFFICER CHAPTER 2-9. - CITY BUDGET AND EFFICIENCY OFFICER. § 2-9-1 – MISSION AND PURPOSE (A) The City Council Budget and Efficiency Officer’s mission is to produce independent analyses of budgetary and fiscal issues to support the Austin City Council’s budget process by issuing reports and reviews of proposed and existing programs. (B) The purpose of the City Budget and Efficiency Office is: (1) to provide the City Council and citizens with an independent and credible assessment of the budget; (2) to strengthen the budget process that improves transparency, accountability, and participation; (3) to influence the allocation of public funds through the budget; (4) to demystify the technical language of the budget and to open up the budget to public scrutiny. § 2-9-2 - APPOINTMENT. (A) The office of the city budget and efficiency officer (CBEO) is created under Section XXX (of Article XXX of the Charter. A majority of the council shall appoint a city budget and efficiency officer in accordance with the procedure established in Section 2-9-3 (Selection Process). (B) The council may not appoint a city council budget and efficiency officer who: (1) has served as the City's mayor, a council member, or city manager within five years before the date of the appointment; or (2) is related, by affinity or consanguinity within the second degree, to the mayor, a council member, or the city manager. (C) The council shall provide the city council budget and efficiency officer with a discrete budget sufficient to perform the auditor's responsibilities and duties under this chapter. (1) The appropriations available to pay for the expenses of the city council budget and efficiency office during each fiscal year shall not be less than twenty percent of the appropriations available to pay for the expenses of the City Manager’s Financial Services Budget office. (D) A majority vote of the members of the council is required to remove the city council budget and efficiency officer as provided by Section XXX (City Council Budget and Efficiency Officer) of Article XXX (Finance) of the City Charter. PROPOSED CHAPTER 2.9. CITY BUDGET AND EFFICIENCY OFFICER § 2-9-3 - SELECTION PROCESS; CITY COUNCIL BUDGET AND EFFICIENCY OFFICER. (A) The council shall appoint a nominating committee to recommend candidates for city budget and efficiency officer. The committee shall consist of five members, including: (1) three council members appointed by the council …
ARTICLE IV. - INITIATIVE, REFERENDUM, AND RECALL. § 2. - POWER OF REFERENDUM. The people reserve the power to approve or reject at the polls any legislation enacted by the council which is subject to the initiative process under this Charter, except an ordinance which is enacted for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health or safety, which contains a statement of its urgency, and which is adopted by the favorable votes of eight (8) or more of the councilmembers. Within 180 days of passage of an ordinance upon third reading, a petition signed by qualified voters of the city equal in number to the number of signatures required by state law to initiate an amendment to this Charter may be filed with the city clerk requesting that any such ordinance be submitted to a vote of the people for repeal or approval. A notice of intent to circulate such a petition shall be filed with the city clerk prior to doing so. § 6. - POWER OF RECALL. The people of the city reserve the power to recall any member of the council and may exercise such power by filing with the city clerk a petition, signed by qualified voters of the territory from which the council member is elected equal in number to at least 20 percent of the qualified voters of the territory from which the council member is elected, or 10% citywide for the mayor, demanding the removal of a mayor or council member. A notice of intent to circulate such a petition shall be filed with the city clerk prior to doing so, and shall be treated as a ballot measure from the date such notice is filed. The petition shall be signed and verified in the manner required for an initiative petition, shall contain one of the following grounds for which the removal is sought: incompetency (gross ignorance of official duties, gross carelessness in the discharge of official duties, or inability or unfitness to promptly and properly discharge official duties because of a serious mental or physical defect that did not exist at the time of election); official misconduct (intentional unlawful behavior relating to official duties including an intentional or corrupt failure, refusal, or neglect of an officer to perform a duty imposed on the officer by law); habitual intoxication; or conviction for any felony or misdemeanor involving official misconduct. One of the …
