Charter Election Proposition V

Shall Section 11.26 “Disaster clause” of the Charter of the Town of Addison, Texas, be amended to remove the references to the “local Chamber of Commerce” and “Board of Trustees of the local school district” and instead direct that the Dallas County Judge appoint a commission, which shall include all surviving members of the City Council, in the event of a disaster when a quorum of the City Council cannot be assembled because of death or injury?

Impact

The Charter requires that a minimum of five members of the City Council be present to conduct Town business. In the unlikely event of a major disaster that resulted in the death or significant injury of three Council Members, the Council could not legally meet as the surviving members would not constitute the legally required quorum. If that were to occur, the Charter currently states that members of the local Chamber of Commerce, Board of Trustees of the local school districts and the Dallas County Judge would come together to appoint a Commission to serve until an election can be held. The proposed amendment would streamline the process and state that the ability to appoint a Commission rests with the Dallas County Judge.  The proposed amendment would also require that all surviving Council Members be included in the Commission.