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Among the long list of races that voters will find on their ballots this November, those who are registered to vote in McAllen and Edinburg will also find proposed charter amendments.
Officials in both McAllen and Edinburg have ordered referendums asking voters to decide on a number of proposed changes to their city charters.
Both elections are being held in a year that the cities would not have normally held an election — neither McAllen nor Edinburg have any of their commission or council seats up for a vote.
However, only one of the two cities expected to hold an election this year.
Edinburg embarked on a path to potentially amend its charter a year ago, when officials first empaneled a “charter review committee” to find outdated provisions.
The committee presented its recommendations to the Edinburg City Council earlier this summer, which then led to the order of election.
McAllen, meanwhile, was prompted to order a charter amendment election after Ground Game Texas, an Austin-based nonprofit whose goal is spurring progressive ballot initiatives in cities across the state, delivered a petition this summer calling for two referendums to be put before voters.
McALLEN MEASURES
Ground Game Texas set its sights on McAllen after successfully sponsoring $15 minimum wage petitions in Edinburg and Alton.
The group’s two proposals for McAllen call for campaign finance reform that would drastically limit how much donors can give in municipal races, and to imbue McAllen residents with what Ground Game calls “direct democracy powers.”
If approved, Proposition A would amend the McAllen City Charter to add new campaign finance limitations under an article entitled the “McAllen Anti-Corruption Act.”
Currently, political donors can give up to $5,000 for city commissioner candidates and up to $10,000 to mayoral candidates.
Prop A would limit those contributions across the board to just $500 per donor per candidate in a single election cycle.
That includes donations from individuals or political action committees, according to the petition detailing the proposed ordinances.
That $500 limitation could be raised or lowered, depending on the Consumer Price Index, according to the proposal.
Further, certain campaign expenditures would be qualified as political donations under certain circumstances.
“Any campaign expenditure supporting the election of a candidate or opposing the election of an opponent made with prior consent of the candidate or their committee, or with cooperation or strategic communication between the candidate or their committee and the person making the expenditure, is considered a campaign contribution and is subject to the limitations of this ordinance,” the proposed ordinance states.
It will be up to each individual political candidate to ensure that all campaign donations and expenditures comply with the ordinance, and they will be required to return any contributions that don’t.
Failure to do so would constitute a misdemeanor crime.
The goal of the McAllen Anti-Corruption Act is to increase public confidence in elected officials.
“The city election process should be protected from potential undue influence by individuals and groups making large contributions to the election campaigns of candidates for Mayor and Board of Commissioners,” the petition states.
Ground Game’s campaign materials identify who it thinks those high-dollar donors are.
“Right now, a small number of developers and lawyers decide who is our Mayor and who is on the City Commission. They give contributions of $1,000, $5,000, even $10,000 at a time. This makes it so regular people can’t get heard,” Ground Game’s website states.
The second proposal, the “McAllen Direct Democracy Act,” would give McAllen residents the power of initiative, referendum and recall of public officials.
The powers would give McAllen residents the ability to impact local legislation by proposing ordinances to the city commission or to call for the dismantling of recently approved legislation.
A petition for a referendum to undo actions approved by the commission would have to be submitted within 60 days of an ordinance’s effective date.
If the commission fails to pass an ordinance submitted via petition within 15 days, then McAllen would be obligated to put the matter up for a vote at the next available election.
When it comes to the power of recall, Prop B, would empower residents to remove an elected official as soon as six months after they’ve been sworn in.
Voters would have to submit “A petition signed by the qualified voters of the territory from which the Commissioner is elected, equal in number to at least 10 percent of the qualified voters of the territory from which the Commissioner is elected.”
After the city secretary certifies a recall petition, that elected official would have five days to voluntarily resign before McAllen would be obligated to call for a recall election.
EDINBURG AMENDMENTS
Meanwhile, in Edinburg, residents will also decide proposed charter amendments — including one that came as a result of a different Ground Game Texas initiative.
Last year, the group successfully petitioned to have the Edinburg City Council decide on implementing a $15 minimum wage.
The effort landed in federal court after Edinburg officials declined to certify Ground Game’s petition.
At the time, the petition failed to meet the city’s petition requirements, including a charter provision that demanded such a petition be circulated only by a limited number of registered Edinburg voters.
A federal judge ruled that provision unconstitutional, saying it violated the petitioners’ First Amendment rights.
That section of the Edinburg charter later became one of about a dozen sections highlighted for change by the charter review committee. It will now be put up for a vote as Proposition J.
There are 11 total proposed charter amendments.
The bulk of the propositions would amend the charter’s language to make certain sections line up with current state law.
Proposition E would amend the charter to “conform the city’s posting of the names of candidates in a city election with the requirements of state law,” the ballot reads.
Other propositions also focus on elections, such as clarifying that a candidate must win by a majority, versus a plurality (Prop F); that newly elected officials would take office at the next regular council meeting following an election (Prop D); and that the filling of vacancies on the council would be done according to state constitution (Prop A).
Other proposed amendments would affect city staffers.
Proposition B, for instance, would clarify that the city’s top administrators — the city manager, city attorney, city secretary and municipal court clerk — would be appointed positions.
Currently, those staff positions — save that of city attorney — are limited to a term of eight years.
That’s because, until now, Edinburg has always contracted with an attorney for legal services.
Proposition G, if approved, would codify the city attorney position as a full-time staff position.
