Austin rules for removing elected officials, getting propositions on the ballot could change
AUSTIN (KXAN) — In the future, Austinites who want to get a petition on the ballot — or want to have a city council member removed from office before the end of their term — may need more signatures from voters to get it done.
The newly-created Charter Review Commission took up the issue at a special called meeting Thursday to get public feedback. You can also submit feedback online here.
How we got here
In March 2023, Austin City Council voted to create a Charter Review Commission. The commission, made up of community members appointed by City Council, is looking at City Charter and recommends changes, including possible changes to petition requirements.
No changes can be made to City Charter without being put before voters.
Though the topic has been breached before, the commission was created after council voted to put two opposing petitions — both of which addressed police oversight — with the same name on the May ballot.
When a determined number of signatures is reached and then verified by the city clerk, council’s only options are to adopt the petition outright or to send it to voters.
Citizen-initiated petitions
In Austin, the magic number of signatures required to get a petition on the ballot is 20,000 signatures, or 5% of voters, whichever is less. According to Austin City Council documents, it’s been that way in Austin’s Charter since 2012.
A review of citizen initiatives done by the Office of the City Auditor in 2019 — requested by then-Mayor Steve Adler and Council Member Natasha Harper-Madison — found that Austin requires fewer signatures for citizen-initiated petitions than any other major Texas city, with the exception of El Paso.
The review also looked at cost. The office said in 2016, a petition that was ultimately voted down cost the city $645,000. In 2018, two more were filed. Those also failed and cost the city nearly $550,000.
It’s why some, like Council Member Ryan Alter, asked the commission to consider reviewing the current rules.
“That is an expensive thing that we have to do that we could be serving the public with those dollars otherwise,” Alter said.
However, some groups who have petitioned for change are against altering the current requirements.
Matt Mackowiak, the cofounder of Save Austin Now — a group that has put forward several petitions that have ended up on ballots — including the camping ban, which was approved by voters, and the minimum police staffing initiative, which was voted down — told KXAN previously that he’s against threshold changes.
“The process of putting an ordinance or a charter amendment on the ballot and letting voters weigh in is a cherished right in our city,” responded Mackowiak. “When an issue is important enough and has broad enough support that at least 20,000 registered voters in city limits say they want it on the ballot, it shows that city leaders aren’t listening.”
On the polar opposite end of the political spectrum is the Equity Action — which successfully petitioned to get a police oversight measure on the ballot that was approved by voters — and Chris Harris with that group feels the same way.
“The likely result of that is simply to push citizen-initiated issues to charter amendments rather than people pursuing ballot measures,” said Harris.
Other proposed changes
Right now, the charter requires someone to get 10% of qualified voters in a city council member’s district to sign off in order to get their removal put on the ballot.
According to the Charter Review Commission, a previous commission that looked at similar issues in 2018 recommended shuffling that percentage to 20% to be more in line with what other Texas cities do.
That was discussed in Thursday’s special called meeting, though no action was taken by the commission.
It also discussed moving citizen-initiated Charter changes to the next municipal general election, which sees a larger turnout and could require the city to use fewer financial resources.
Any of those changes would need to go to Austin City Council first and would ultimately need to be voted on by you. That could happen as soon as November.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KXAN Austin.
