Former mayors oppose charter amendments proposed by the City Council. Twelve of 15 amendments would do more harm than good. They strongly oppose the four...
Mike Rawlings, Tom Leppert and Ron KirkAfter careful study, we have concluded that 12 of these proposed charter amendments would do more harm than good, write former mayors Mike Rawlings, Tom Leppert and Ron Kirk. We also strongly oppose four proposed amendments that arose from petitions passed around by interest groups.
This proposed amendment reflects a misguided notion that would further diminish the importance of encouraging voter participation and ensuring members have vested interests in the effective functioning of these organizations. We cannot conceive how the work of these important boards and commissions would be served by eliminating these minimal requirements.
This proposal would lower, from 10% to 5%, the number of required qualified voter signatures on a petition to call a vote on a proposed charter amendment. Dallas already faces worrisome efforts to change our charter because interest groups spend significant funds to gather signatures for dubious charter amendments, sometimes using misleading language or information to gather support. Lowering the required number of signatures would only mean more such efforts.
This proposed amendment unnecessarily removes a mayor’s prerogative to preside over council meetings and lends itself to the potential for mischief in agenda setting in the event the mayor is absent. Under the charter, the mayor possesses few powers that council members do not have. Appointments to committees and setting of standing committees are among the mayor’s few levers. Removing this mayoral prerogative would weaken the role of the mayor even further.
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