Highland Village Considers City Charter Amendments

At the February 10 meeting, Council discussed proposed amendments to the City Charter. Council is considering placing approximately 25 amendments to the Charter on the ballot for the May 9 election. The majority of the amendments would remove redundancies and modify language that conflicts or is preempted by state law and the state election code. The other amendments are specific to Highland Village’s Home Rule operational structure. These include items such as a clear definition of a Council term, Council term limits and Council member qualification. The proposed amendments can be viewed on the city web site. Council will discuss the amendments and ballot language at the February 24 meeting.

Council created a Charter Review Committee in September 2008 to: (1) review the City Charter to determine whether revisions are necessitated; and (2) report findings and forward proposed charter amendments to the City Council. The Charter Review Committee presented recommendations to Council for amendments to the City Charter at the January 13, 2009 meeting. The Committee members are Charlie Turner, Lois Farness, Dee Ricketts, Carol Longacre, Johnny Rae, John McGee and Greg Walterscheid.