Laserfiche WebLink
City Attorney said that has already happened in Mr. Bell case, he has <br />already been elected and was a residence under the election code at the <br />time he was el.ected. <br />Councilman John Bell wanted to know if the Election Code addresses <br />after he was elected. <br />City Attorney advised that under Section 30 of the City Charter states <br />that the council shall be the judge of the election and qualifications <br />of its members, and under Section 17, Qualifications each of the seven <br />councilmen shall be a citizens of the United States and a qualified <br />voter of the State of Texas; shall have resided, and the last sentence <br />of that section states, a member of the council ceasing to possess any <br />of the qualifications specified in this section or any other section of <br />this charter, or convicted of a felony while in office, shall <br />immediately forfeit his office. <br />City Attorney Haynes explained that if a Councilmember became convicted <br />of a felony during their term, the day that person was convicted, it <br />would not require action of anybody to dismiss you, you would have lost <br />it as of the time that happened, so if the Council were to determine <br />and find that one of it's members was no longer a boni fide resident of <br />the city, then on the day they found that to have happened would be the <br />day that the person would have lost the qualifications, and at that <br />time, the action outside of the council is what determines what happen, <br />and when it happened. <br />Mayor Fisher asked about a homestead exemption, and how does that play <br />into what the City Charter says. <br />City Attorney Haynes advised that Mr. Jim Bell made an affidavit that <br />has been furnished, wherein he designated his residency outside the <br />city as his homestead. In the same affidavit he also stated that his <br />principal place of residence and abode is claimed and designed and set <br />aside by us to be our principal residence, to the exclusion of any <br />other property owned, claimed, or held by us at 2221 Lamar. City <br />Attorney Haynes said that in the determination of what a homestead is, <br />it is my opinion that this affidavit, you can not say your residence is <br />one place and your homestead is another place. City Attorney Haynes <br />explained that residence is a part of homestead, you have to live (live <br />is not a legal term), it has to be your home, they talk about it being <br />your home. There are other cases that have said where your wife and <br />children live, and an occasional use is not sufficient to constitute <br />property a homestead, and the mere fact that a homestead claimant on <br />occasion uses the premises as the place of his home will not impress <br />the property with the homestead character, so for it to be a homestead <br />it has to be your primary place of residence. <br />Councilman Bell requested that Mr. Haynes explain further that if a <br />person owns a piece of property, it will automatically become a <br />homestead. <br />City Attorney Haynes said in answer to what -Mr. Bell's questioned about <br />living in a place you owned as to what it has to do with it being your <br />