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Panel eyes changes for Lake Jackson charter
Published November 6, 2009
LAKE JACKSON — With the November election complete, Lake Jackson City Council members already are considering May’s ballot.
The Charter Review Commission presented suggestions for charter changes at the City Council meeting Monday. Any charter changes must be voted on by residents.
Suggestions included allowing council members to serve four consecutive two-year terms instead of three terms, increasing council pay and creating two-year terms for the municipal court judge instead of the judge serving at the pleasure of the council.
Before the end of February, City Council must decide if it wants any of the charter review suggestions to be placed on the May ballot for voter approval.
MEMBER TERMS
All City Council members now are limited to three two-year terms, after which a member cannot serve again for 18 months.
The Charter Review Commission suggested lengthening the amount of time a city council member can serve on the board to eight years from the current six.
Under the proposed change, a council member still would be accountable to voters every two years, and City Council would be able to retain members with experience, said Bob Nielsen, who serves on the commission.
Councilman Charlie Golden said he would like to see members stay on council longer.
This is one of many times a charter review commission has attempted to change term limits since they were adopted in 1991, City Manager Bill Yenne said.
Though not all of the attempts made it to the ballot, measures that did were not approved by voters, Yenne said.
MEMBER PAY
The charter review commission also suggested a pay raise for the mayor and council be placed on the May ballot.
The commission suggested the charter be changed to allow a board or commission to request a council liaison be paid up to $25 for each meeting he or she attends. Many council members serve as liaisons to the city’s boards and commissions and are unpaid for attending those meetings.
The commission recommends pay for council meetings remain at $37.50 per meeting, but suggests the amount council members can receive in a month increase from $75 to $150. This would allow $25 per commission or board meeting to be added to council member’s monthly pay.
The Charter Review Commission also would like to see the mayor to receive $500 a month, instead of $250.
The mayor is paid more because of the many events he or she must attend, Yenne said.“A lot of time is spent inside and outside this building,” Nielsen said.
Some council members were not in favor of the pay increase.
Lake Jackson is fortunate to have the number of volunteers it has, Golden said. He believes serving on City Council is a form of volunteering. Golden can remember when council members were paid only $5 per meeting, he said.
“I’ve always voted against putting it on the ballot — and voted against it when it was on the ballot,” Golden said.
Commission member Glenn Korfhage said the tradition of keeping council pay low is honorable, but it might stop some qualified people from being able to serve on City Council.
If a single mother wishes to serve on the council, the current pay is not enough to cover baby-sitting costs, Korfhage said.
Councilman Bob Geter said working on City Council can be expensive and the current pay does not cover the costs. He suggested voters be given the opportunity to decide.
COURT JUDGE
The municipal court judge is appointed by City Council and serves at the pleasure of the council, meaning the judge can be fired at any time, Yenne said.
To separate powers, the commission suggested the municipal court judge be appointed for two-year terms.A two-year term would allow the judge’s position to be reviewed every year, but council would not be able to remove the judge on a whim during the middle of a term.
With this change, council members could not appoint a different judge when they want an upcoming court case to go a certain way, Nielsen said.
Council will review all suggestions and discuss them again at the city’s Nov. 16 meeting.
Katlynn Lanham covers Lake Jackson for The Facts. Contact her at 979-237-0150.
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