Proposition 2

Highlights: Restricts recalls during elected officials' last year in office; Establishes Ethics Commission by Charter

Amended Text
Amending the Charter of the City of El Paso Section 2.1, Subsection D, City Elections; and Section 2.2, New subsection, Nominations; to read as follows:

Section 2.1, Subsection D CITY ELECTIONS
D. Recall. Any elected officer of the City may be removed from office, for stated reasons, by those voters who are qualified to vote for a successor to such office. The Council shall enact, within sixty days of the adoption of this Charter, an ordinance providing for:

• The general conduct of recall elections;
• Receipt, by the City Clerk, prior to the conduct of any recall election of a petition bearing authentic signatures of a number of registered voters equal to at least twenty percent of the total number of votes cast in the election of the officer whose recall is sought;
• Completion of a recall petition within sixty days of filing notice with the City Clerk of intent to circulate a petition for recall; and
• Recall petitions to specify the reasons for which recall is sought.

No recall petition shall be filed against any elected officer within six months after taking office, nor within twelve months of the end of the elected officer's term of office, nor in case of an officer who was the subject of an unsuccessful recall election, until six months after that election. Should the elected officer, whose recall is sought, resign, no recall election shall be held.

Section 2.2, New Subsection NOMINATIONS.
Ethics Review Commission. The Council shall, by ordinance, establish an independent ethics review commission to administer and enforce the ethics section of the City Code. To the extent permitted by Texas law, the Council shall authorize the commission to issue advisory opinions, conduct investigations, request witness testimony and production of evidence, make determinations on whether a violation has occurred, and issue appropriate sanctions. The Council shall provide sufficient resources to the commission to enable it to perform the duties assigned to it under the Charter and City Code.

Proposition Question
Ballot Proposition No. 2

FOR ( )

Shall Sections 2.1 D and 2.2 of the City Charter be amended relating to the holding of office: to provide that no recall petition may be filed against any elected officer within twelve months of the end of the elected officer's term of office; to add a new subsection under Section 2.2 to require Council to establish an ethics review commission; to enumerate the primary responsibilities of such a commission; and to renumber the provisions as appropriate?

AGAINST ( )