Here are some charter changes Austin City Council wants residents to vote on in November
Austin residents are likely to decide the fate of several proposed changes to the city's charter this November. The charter is a comprehensive legal document of the city of Austin's rules and regulations.
On Thursday, the Austin City Council authorized the ballot language for several proposed charter changes. The City Council will later vote on an ordinance to authorize the election.
Here are a few of the proposed charter changes residents will be asked to vote on.
Raising the threshold of signatures needed for a recall election of a City Council member from 10% of registered voters in the council member's district to 15%.
Currently, under the council-manager form of government Austin has, the city manager appoints most of the department leaders including the city attorney. One proposed change to the city's charter seeks to give the City Council the authority to appoint and remove the city attorney.
Changing the city charter to require that initiative elections and citizen-initiated charter elections occur on the even-yeared November general elections.
Removing language from the city charter that states the City Council should meet weekly. Currently, the City Council usually meets biweekly, with occasional breaks.
The American-Statesman will continue providing coverage of the November 2024 election and break down each proposition and races to watch closer to the election date.
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Austin residents to vote on proposed city charter changes in election
