REGULAR MEETING OF THE 2024 CHARTER REVIEW COMMISSION Thursday February 15, 2024, at 5:30 P.M. Austin City Hall, Boards & Commissions Rm 301 W 2nd St AUSTIN, TEXAS Public comment will be allowed in-person or remotely via telephone. Speakers may only register to speak on an item once either in-person or remotely and will be allowed up to three minutes to provide their comments. Registration no later than noon the day before the meeting is required for remote participation by telephone. To register to speak remotely, please call Myrna Rios, (512) 974-2210, 2024 or email your request to myrna.rios@austintexas.gov. CURRENT COMMISSIONERS: Jessica Palvino, Chair Ryan Botkin Cynthia Van Maanen Julio Altamirano Randy Ortega Betsy Greenberg Alejandro Garcia, Vice Chair JC Dwyer Brian McGiverin Michael O Cowles Megan Lasch AGENDA CALL TO ORDER PUBLIC COMMUNICATION: GENERAL 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. APPROVAL OF MINUTES 1. Approve the minutes of the 2024 Charter Review Commission regular meeting of January 30, 2024, and special called of February 8, 2024. DISCUSSION AND ACTION ITEMS 2. Discussion and possible action on the City Attorney Working Group initial recommendation report. (Chair Palvino, Commissioners Garcia and McGiverin) 3. Discussion and possible action on the Petition Process Working Groups initial recommendation report on revisions to the petition process. (Commissioners Cowles, Dwyer, and McGiverin) 4. Discussion and possible action on the Initiative/Charter/Referendum Mechanics Work Groups initial recommendation on proposition lettering. (Commissioners Altamirano, Botkin, and Ortega) 5. Discussion and possible action on Recall Petitions Work Group recommendations. (Commissioner Van Maanen) 6. Discussion and possible action regarding community engagement of the Charter Review process from the Outreach Work Group. 7. Discussion and possible action of future meetings and meeting location. FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS 8. The Commission may discuss and identify future agenda items, topics, or presentations. ADJOURNMENT The City of Austin is committed to compliance with the American 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 Myrna Rios at the Office of the City Clerk, at (512) 974-2210 or myrna.rios@austintexas.gov, for additional information; TTY users route through …
2024 CHARTER REVIEW COMMISSION MINUTES REGULAR MEETING February 15, 2024 The 2024 Charter Review Commission convened in a regular meeting on Thursday, February 15, 2024, Austin City Hall, 301 W. Second Street, Room 1029, Austin, Texas. Chair Palvino called the Commission Meeting to order at 5:31 p.m. Commissioners Dwyer and Lasch attended virtually. Vice Chair Garcia absent. Commissioner Cowles Commissioner Lasch Commissioner Van Maanen Commissioner Ortega Commissioner Greenberg Commission Members in Attendance: Vice Chair Garcia (absent) Commissioner Botkin Commissioner Dwyer Commissioner McGivern (virtual) Commission Altamirano Staff in Attendance: Myrna Rios, City Clerk’s Office Caroline Webster, Law Department PUBLIC COMMUNICATION: GENERAL Joe Riddell APPROVAL OF MINUTES 1. Approve the minutes of the 2024 Charter Review Commission regular meeting of January 30, 2024, and February 8, 2024. The motion to approve the minutes from the January 30, 2024 meeting, and February 8, 2024 meeting were approved on Commissioner Lasch’s motion, Commissioner Botkin’s second on a 9-0 vote. Commissioner McGiverin was off the dais. Vice Chair Garcia absent. DISCUSSION AND ACTION ITEMS 2. Discussion and possible action on the City Attorney Working Group initial recommendation report. (Chair Palvino, Commissioners Garcia and McGiverin) The presentation on the City Attorney Working Group recommendations was made by Chair Palvino. 1 Recommendation #1: The City Manager appoints City Attorney, with confirmation by City Council. Recommendation #2: Council is assigned a designated attorney with the city attorney’s office. The motion to approve Recommendation #1 was made by Commissioner Lasch, seconded by Commissioner Botkin on an 8-0 vote. Commissioner McGiverin was off the dais, Commissioner Greenberg abstained. Vice Chair Garcia absent. 3. Discussion and possible action on the Petition Process Working Groups initial recommendation report on revisions to the petition process. (Commissioners Cowles, Dwyer, and McGiverin) The presentation on the Petition Process Working Group recommendations was made by Commissioner Dwyer. No action was taken. 4. Discussion and possible action on the Initiative/Charter/Referendum Mechanics Work Groups initial recommendation on proposition lettering. (Commissioners Altamirano, Botkin, and Ortega) The presentation on the Initiative/Charter/Referendum Mechanics Work Group recommendations was made by Commissioner Van Maanen. The motion to approve the recommendations was made by Commissioner Van Maanen, seconded by Commissioner Ortega on ab 8-1 vote. Commissioner Greenberg voted no. Commissioner McGiverin was off the dais. Vice Chair Garcia absent. 5. Discussion and possible action on Recall Petitions Work Group recommendations. (Commissioner Van Maanen) The presentation on the Recall Petitions Work Group recommendations was made …
2024 CHARTER REVIEW COMMISSION MINUTES REGULAR MEETING January 30, 2024 The 2024 Charter Review Commission convened in a regular meeting on Thursday, January 30, 2024, Austin City Hall, 301 W. Second Street, Room 1029, Austin, Texas. Chair Palvino called the Commission Meeting to order at 5:31 p.m. Commissioners Dwyer and Lasch attended virtually. Vice Chair Garcia absent. Commissioner Cowles Commissioner Lasch (virtual) Commissioner Van Maanen Commissioner Ortega Commissioner Greenberg Commission Members in Attendance: Vice Chair Garcia (absent) Commissioner Botkin Commissioner Dwyer (virtual) Commissioner McGivern Commission Altamirano Staff in Attendance: Myrna Rios, City Clerk’s Office Caroline Webster, Law Department PUBLIC COMMUNICATION: GENERAL Bobby Levinski – SOS (remote) Linda Curtis (remote) Lisa Chang (remote) Joe Riddell APPROVAL OF MINUTES 1. Approve the minutes of the 2024 Charter Review Commission regular meeting of January 18, 2024. The motion to approve the minutes from the January 18, 2024 meeting were approved on Commissioner Botkin’s motion, Commissioner Cowles’s second on an 8-0 vote. Commissioner’s Dwyer and Lasch were off the dais. Vice Chair Garcia absent. STAFF BRIEFINGS 2. Law Department briefing regarding staff proposed charter revisions. Withdrawn 1 DISCUSSION AND ACTION ITEMS 3. Discussion and possible action on the City Attorney Working Group initial recommendation report. (Chair Palvino, Commissioners Garcia and McGiverin) The presentation on the City Attorney Working Group recommendation was made by Commissioner McGiverin. No action was taken. 4. Discussion and possible action on the Petition Process Working Groups initial recommendation report on revisions to the petition process. (Commissioners Cowles, Dwyer, and McGiverin) The presentation on the Petition Process Working Group recommendations were made by Commissioner Van Maanen and Commissioner Dwyer. It was discussed to discuss the recommendations further at the February 15, 2024 meeting. No action was taken. 5. Discussion and possible action on the Initiative/Charter/Referendum Mechanics Work Groups initial recommendation on proposition lettering. (Commissioners Altamirano, Botkin, and Ortega) The presentation on the Mechanics Work Group recommendations was made by Commissioner Altamirano. The motion to approve the Alphabet Rotation of Proposition language recommendation was made by Commissioner Altamirano, seconded by Commissioner Van Maanen on an 8-0 vote. Commissioner’s Dwyer and Lasch were off the dais. Vice Chair Garcia absent. 6. Discussion and possible action on Recall Petitions Work Group recommendations. (Commissioner Van Maanen) The presentation on the Recall Petitions Work Group recommendations was made by Commissioner Van Maanen. Staff were directed to provide information if Political Action Groups can have contribution limitations. …
2024 CHARTER REVIEW COMMISSION MINUTES SPECIAL CALLED MEETING February 8, 2024 The 2024 Charter Review Commission convened in a special called meeting on Thursday, Thursday, February 8, 2024, Austin City Hall, 301 W. Second Street, Austin, Texas. Chair Palvino called the Commission Meeting to order at 7:04 p.m. Commission Members in Attendance: Vice Chair Garcia Commissioner Botkin Commissioner Dwyer Commissioner McGivern Commission Altamirano Staff in Attendance: Myrna Rios, City Clerk’s Office Caroline Webster, Law Department PUBLIC HEARING Commissioner Cowles Commissioner Lasch Commissioner Van Maanen Commissioner Ortega Commissioner Greenberg 1. Conduct a public hearing to receive feedback regarding proposed amendments to the City Charter recommended by the 2024 Charter Review Commission. Conducted The meeting was adjourned without objection at 8:24 pm. 1
CRC Recommendation Regarding Article V, Section 6 (City Attorney) Recommendation: City Manager appoints City Attorney, with confirmation by City Council Proposed Charter Revision: Policy Reasons: The City of Austin is an outlier in terms of how its city attorney is appointed. According to the most recent Texas Municipal League survey in 2010, most Texas home‐rule cities (73%) authorize their council to appoint the city attorney directly. The CRC is recommending this charter revision to ensure accountability of the city attorney’s office to the city council. Proposed Ballot Language: [in progress]
DRAFT CRC Recommendation Regarding Article V, Section 6 (City Attorney) Recommendation: City manager appoints city attorney, with confirmation by council Proposed Charter Revision: Policy Reasons: The CRC is recommending this charter revision to ensure that council has a designated attorney within the city attorney’s office to assist it in formulating ordinances and working through policy matters. Proposed Ballot Language: [in progress]
DRAFT Recommendation: Background Item 3: 5% Threshold City Council Resolution 20230309-025 establishing the 2024 Charter Review Commission indicated City Council’s intent to hold an election in November 2024 to allow voters to decide on several important changes to the charter including “changes to petition requirements for initiative and referendum or City Charter amendments including (…) Use of a durable signature threshold that utilizes a percentage of the total number of registered voters in the City.” Among the reasons cited for this change, the Resolution stated: “WHEREAS, in November 2012, voters approved a Charter amendment to change the number of required signatures for initiative and referendum petitions to be equal to the number of signatures required by state law to initiate a Charter amendment: 5% of qualified voters or 20,000, whichever number is smaller, and this change resulted in petitioners needing fewer than half the number of signatures than before;” and “WHEREAS, in 2012, when the change was made, 20,000 signatures was 4% of qualified voters, but this fixed number represents a steadily decreasing percentage of Austin voters as the City's population continues to grow;” and “WHEREAS, an October 2019 report by the City Auditor regarding citizen initiatives to amend the City Code noted that most peer cities require more signatures for citizen initiatives than Austin and that only Austin provides for a set number of signatures required or a percentage requirement, whichever is smaller”. The Charter Review Commission established the Petition Process Working Group on October 2nd, 2023. Its membership consisted of Commissioners Cowles, Dwyer, Greenberg, McGivern and Van Maanen. This recommendation was presented to the full Commission on XX/XX/XXXX. It was adopted/rejected by a X-X vote. Substance of the Proposed Amendments, Revisions or Repeals to the Charter This recommendation creates a durable signature threshold for the approval of citizen initiative and referendum petitions at 5% of qualified Austin voters and aligns those changes to the same threshold for changes to the City Charter, pending changes to state law. The Charter Review Commission recommends creating Article IV, § 11, titled “Changes to the City Charter,” and adding the following language: “In the event Texas Local Government Code 9.004 is amended to permit the city to affirmatively choose between setting the petition signature threshold required for initiating a charter amendment election to either a fixed number of qualified voters or a percentage of qualified voters without regard to which option is …
Recommendation: Elections for citizen-initiated Charter changes and initiatives held on municipal general election dates Item 4 Background The City Council Resolution 20230309-025 establishing the 2024 Charter Review Commission indicated City Council’s intent to hold an election in November 2024 to allow voters to decide on several important changes to the charter including a “Limit on citizen-initiated changes to the City Charter to November elections with a stated preference of holding elections on presidential election years.” The Charter Review Commission established the Initiative, Charter, and Referendum Mechanics Working Group (“Mechanics”) on October 2nd, 2023. Its membership consisted of Commissioners Altamirano, Botkin, and Ortega. The Working Group was supported by Ms. Caroline Webster of the City of Austin Law Department. This recommendation was presented to the full Commission on 1/30/2024. It was adopted/rejected by a X-X vote. Substance of the Proposed Amendments, Revisions or Repeals to the Charter This recommendation requires City Council to select the earliest municipal general election date when it orders an election for Charter changes or citizen-initiated initiatives. The City of Austin has its municipal general elections every two years, matching the presidential and “midterm” Congressional election cycle. For citizen-initiated Charter changes, Local Government Code 9.004 (b) already affords City Council the ability to select either the soonest of the next municipal general election or the presidential election: (b) The ordinance ordering the election shall provide for the election to be held on the first authorized uniform election date prescribed by the Election Code or on the earlier of the date of the next municipal general election or presidential general election. The election date must allow sufficient time to comply with other requirements of law and must occur on or after the 30th day after the date the ordinance is adopted. This recommendation binds Council to selecting the soonest of these two higher turnout elections. Additionally, there are no limitations from state statute or the Texas Constitution preventing Austin’s Charter from placing the same requirement on citizen-initiated initiatives. In consultation with City Law, the working group recommends the following language for for the ordinance ordering the election of this charter change: If Proposition __ is approved by a majority of voters voting in the election, the City Charter is amended to read as follows: ARTICLE IV.- INITIATIVE, REFERENDUM, [AND] RECALL, AND CITIZEN- INITIATED CHARTER AMENDMENTS. § 4.-COUNCIL CONSIDERATION AND SUBMISSION TO VOTERS. (A) When the council receives an …
