19 - City Charter ReviewItem No. 19
Memorandum
TO: Mayor & City Council
Grayson Path, City Manager
FROM: Janice Ellis, City Clerk
SUBJECT: CITY CHARTER REVIEW
DATE: January 25, 2021
BACKGROUND: At the January 11, 2021 City Council Meeting, Council Member Knox
requested an agenda item to possibly appoint a Charter Review Committee to review the City
Charter. The last time the Charter was amended was 2011 and prior to that was 2007. Pursuant
to Article XI, Section 5, of the Texas Constitution, a Charter can only be amended every two
years and pursuant to Section 149 of the Paris City Charter, should be reviewed every five years.
STATUS OF ISSUE: Pursuant to Section 149 of the City Charter, the City Council may propose
by a majority vote of the full membership of the City Council specific sections of the Charter
they wish to submit to the voters. In 2011, City Council placed on a ballot two sections of the
Charter for an election. Both propositions passed.
Another option available for amending the Charter is to appoint a Charter Review Committee. In
2007, City Council opted to appoint a Charter Review Committee to study the Charter and make
recommended amendments for City Council to consider. City Council selected eleven (11)
people to serve on the Committee. The process they used was that each Council Member
selected one person from their district to serve on the Committee. In addition, four (4)
committee members were selected at large. That was accomplished by each Council Member
placing a name in an envelope and the City Clerk drew four names from the envelope. The first
four names drawn were the other four committee members. The Committee began working in
November of 2006, they met every two weeks for two hours, held city-wide meetings and the
election took place in May of 2007. The Committee proposed seventy (70) amendments and the
Council approved all seventy (70) to go to the voters. In May 2007, the voters of Paris, Texas,
approved all seventy (70 Charter amendments.
If City Council elects to appoint a Charter Review Committee, staff anticipates that the election
will be held in May of 2022.
BUDGET: This is a budget neutral item.
RECOMMENDATION: Council Member Knox and City Clerk Janice Ellis have discussed the
options, and feel that the best option is to appoint a Charter Review Committee to study the
Charter and bring recommendations to the City Council for possible amendments to the Charter.