By Colin Killian, Public Communications Manager
If you plan to vote in the Nov. 2 election, you probably have a pretty good idea about how you are voting to fill city council and school board seats. Still, you may not have thoroughly examined the proposed amendments to College Station’s City Charter.
Early voting starts Monday and runs through Oct.29. Election Day voting will be from 7 a.m.-7 p.m. For complete voter information, go to cstx.gov/elections or brazosvotes.org.
It’s essential to understand what you are voting for – or against – before you head to your voting place. So, let’s take a closer look at each proposition and what it means to vote FOR or AGAINST it.
Proposition A: City Council Financial Interests
Shall Article XII (General Provisions), Section 116 (Personal Interest) of the College Station City Charter be amended to read as follows?
No member of the City Council shall have a financial interest, direct or indirect, or by reason of ownership of stock in any corporation, in any contract with the City, or be financially interested, directly or indirectly, in the sale to, or purchase from, the City of any land, materials, supplies or services except on behalf of the City; provided, however, that the provisions of this section shall only be applicable when the stock owned by the member of City Council exceeds one percent (1%) of the total capital stock of the corporation. Any violation of this section with the knowledge express or implied of the person or corporation contracting with the City shall render the contract voidable by the City Council or City Manager.
If you vote “FOR”:
If you vote for the proposition, you favor changing city charter language to impose additional conflict of interest restrictions on city council members.
If approved, the new restrictions would prohibit council members from having a direct or indirect financial interest in city contracts or in other city transactions regarding land, materials, supplies, or services.
An exception would be if the council member owns less than 1% of the corporation’s stock.
If you vote “AGAINST”:
If you vote against the proposition, you don’t want more restrictions above existing state law.
Proposition B: City Council Campaign Contributions
Shall Article XII (General Provisions) of the College Station City Charter be amended to add a new section requiring City Council Members to both disclose any campaign contribution in excess of $500.00 by filing an affidavit with the City Secretary and abstain from participating in and voting on any matter before the City Council if the matter before the City Council would materially benefit the campaign contributor or any business entity in which the campaign contributor has a substantial interest?
If you vote “FOR”:
If you vote for the proposition, you favor requiring council members to disclose campaign contributions of more than $500 and to file an affidavit, leave the meeting room, and abstain from discussing and voting on matters that might benefit contributors or businesses in which the contributors have a substantial interest.
Campaign contributions would include loans, offsets to expenditures, and in-kind donations. Contributors would be responsible for identifying their substantial business interests as defined in The Texas Local Government Code (§ 171.002).
The recusal requirement would apply only to contributions made for the current elected position, not prior elected positions. Abstention wouldn’t be required if recusals prevent a quorum. In addition, impacted council members could remain, debate, and vote if the conflict of interest is fully disclosed on the record.
If you vote “AGAINST”:
If you vote against the proposition, you don’t want to require council members to disclose campaign contributions of more than $500 or abstain from discussing and voting on matters that might benefit campaign contributors or businesses in which those contributors have a substantial interest.
Proposition C: City General Election Timing
Shall Article III (The City Council), Section 17 (Number, Selection, Term), Subsection (d) of the College Station City Charter be amended to provide that the general election is to be held on the November uniform election date of each odd-numbered year instead of on the November uniform election date of each even-numbered year; and to provide a process to transition from even-numbered election years to odd-numbered election years?
If you vote “FOR”:
If you vote for the proposition, you favor having city general elections in November of odd-numbered years. That means our elections would not be in even-numbered years, including presidential election years.
If you vote “AGAINST”:
If you vote against the proposition, you want to keep city general elections in November of even-numbered years, including presidential election years.
Make your voice heard by taking advantage of early voting or casting you ballot on Election Day.
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