Government
BY AMIRA VAN LEEUWEN
The city of New Braunfels is considering forming a charter review commission, after officials discovered a conflict between the city charter and the Texas Constitution regarding the New Braunfels mayoral race. New Braunfels City Manager Robert Camareno said the most common composition of a charter review composition is a council-appointed citizen model which is composed of seven members. “An open and transparent process is to recommend to you all an application process where anyone that’s interested can actually apply to be considered for appointment to that commission,” Camareno said. Council discusses forming charter review commission
Draft charter review and amendment election timeline
Early 2027: Charter amendment election ordered by City Council
June 15-July 17: Applications open for serving on charter review commission
August 10: Process for selecting outside legal counsel begins
2027
June 2026
Fall/Winter 2026: Charter review commission conducts review of charter and makes recommendations to City Council for changes
July-August: Process for selecting outside legal counsel begins
May: City holds charter amendment election
SOURCE: CITY OF NEW BRAUNFELS/COMMUNITY IMPACT
amendment election. Outside legal support helps educate the charter commission on election law and ensure ballot language compliance. Outside legal support provides a legal review of the existing charter and proposed amendments, according to the meeting presentation.
Each council member would appoint one resident from their district and the mayor would appoint one at-large member. The commission would appoint a chairperson from the seven members, according to a May 26 City Council meeting presentation. City staff is also recommending outside legal counsel support for the charter review and
Some context
Stay tuned
New Braunfels mayoral term is three years, a runoff must be held, according to the Texas Constitution. Mayor Pro Tem Lawrence Spradley said he liked the idea of a seven-member commission and appointing someone. Council member April Ryan said she slightly disagreed with Spradley. She said she would appreciate the application process being open to the public with final approval from City Council.
Following the May 2 election, city officials reviewed the city charter, which states that the mayoral election is decided by the candidate who receives the most votes, or a plurality of votes, regardless of whether a candidate receives a majority. However, the city received information that this was incorrect under state law. When a term of office exceeds two years, members of a municipality’s governing body must be elected by a majority vote. Since the
City Council is anticipated to decide on the composition of the charter commission at the next council meeting. The dais meets monthly on the second and fourth Monday at 6 p.m. The council meets at city hall, which is located at 550 Landa St.
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