2024 big year for Granite Shoals voters

Granite Shoals residents will be choosing four of the seven seats on City Council, deciding up or down on 16 amendments to the city charter, and voting on whether to renew a 1 percent sales tax allocation dedicated to street maintenance during the May 4 election. 

Places 1, 2, 4, and 6 on the council will be up for election come May. Interested residents can file to run from Jan. 17 through Feb. 16. 

Place 1 is held by Councilor Brian Edwards and Place 2 by Councilor Mike Pfister. Both were appointed to their positions on Oct. 24 by the other five members of the council after former Councilor Kevin Flack and former Mayor Kiel Arnone resigned in a disagreement over whether or not to fire City Manager Peggy Smith, who also recently resigned.

Granite Shoals City Council members typically serve two-year, staggered terms, but per the city’s charter, seats with appointed councilors must go up for election, even if the two-year term is incomplete. In an even election year, like 2024, places 2, 4, and 6 would be on the ballot, but Place 1 is also being included because of a resignation.

Edwards was appointed to his seat after Mayor Ron Munos vacated Place 1 to take up the gavel following Arnone’s resignation. The winner of the Place 1 seat in May will only serve a one-year term to finish out the two-year term that was already served in part by Munos and Edwards.

Place 4 is currently held by Mayor Pro Tem Steve Hougen, while Place 6 is held by Councilor Phil Ort. Both won their seats in contested races in May 2022, and both are serving their second consecutive terms.

The council and city administration have experienced significant upheaval in the past few years. Former City Manager Jeff Looney was fired in June 2022, and Smith resigned following multiple public controversies on Jan. 9 of this year. The city has had five different mayors since 2021, and several councilors have resigned in the same timeframe.

Despite the tumult, residents did not turn out to vote in significant numbers for the May 2023 elections, when there were five open seats on the ballot.

Munos, Hougen, and Ort are the only members of the council to have won a race for their seats. Edwards and Pfister were both appointed, and Place 3 Councilor Judy Salvaggio and Place 5 Councilor Michael Berg both ran unopposed for their seats in 2023.

The seven members of the Granite Shoals City Council are responsible for meeting and voting on city policy, approving tax rates and the city budget, and overseeing the employment of the city manager, who conducts the day-to-day operations of the city. 

Visit the Granite Shoals elections page to learn about the requirements for candidacy and find election applications.

Charter amendments

Granite Shoals residents will also vote on 16 proposed amendments to the city charter. The charter, which can be found here, is the city’s governing document and can only be amended by a majority vote of the people.

The amendments were proposed to the council by the city’s Charter Review Committee in March 2023. Council members then reviewed the proposed amendments, made their own adjustments by consulting with the city attorney, and approved the amendments’ inclusion on the May 4 ballot during a regular council meeting on Jan. 9.

DailyTrib.com has included the technical summaries of the amendments below, but a future story on their significance will be released closer to the May 4 election. The exact amendments and the corresponding proposed changes to the charter can be found here.

Amendment No. 1

Change Article III, Section 3.01(2) to remove language from the initial adoption of the Charter in 2005 regarding the appointment of City Council Place 5 because that position is now elected.

Amendment No. 2

Change Article III, Section 3.05(5) of the City Charter to clarify the process used by the City Council to elect a Mayor Pro Tem following the appointment to fill the vacancy of the Mayor Pro Tem position.

Amendment No. 3

Amend Article III, Section 3.06 to amend the powers of the City Council to conform with Section 4.02 of the Charter, which grants the City Manager authority to appoint or remove the City Secretary subject to approval of the City Council. Also amends Section 3.06 to grant the City Council the authority to eliminate administrative departments and to perform annual reviews of the City Manager, Municipal Judge(s), and City Attorney.

Amendment No. 4

Amend Article III, Section 3.07 to clarify that Council may not dictate the appointment or removal of contractors whom the City Manager is authorized to appoint, and to prohibit the mayor or any council member from holding a contractor position with the City for one year after the expiration of their term of office.

Amendment No. 5

Amend Article III, Section 3.10 to require the City Attorney to make recommendations to city council members with a potential conflict of interest regarding an agenda item.

Amendment No. 6

Amend Article IV, Section 4.01 to change the City Manager’s qualifications, remove the statement that a City Manager is preferred but not required to be a resident of the City, and to require the City Manager to provide monthly financial updates to the City Council.

Amendment No. 7

Amend Article IV, Section 4.02 to remove language describing the job functions of the City Secretary, because the City Manager determines these functions pursuant to Section 4.01(5) of the Charter.

Amendment No. 8

Amend Article IV, Section 4.03 to bring the City’s municipal court of record into conformity with state law by providing for a presiding municipal judge and one or more associate municipal judges serving four-year terms.

Amendment No. 9

Amend Article V, Section 4.04 to require the City Attorney to make recommendations to the City Council regarding potential conflicts of interest. 

Amendment No. 10

Amend Article VI, Section 4.06 to remove the City Secretary from the requirement that the City’s personnel rules must include a plan for an annual evaluation of the City Secretary by the City Council.

Amendment No. 11

Amend Article V, Section 5.02 to add a qualification for candidates for elected City offices that they be a qualified voter within the corporate limits of the City before the filing date to run for that office, and remain so while in office. The proposed changes would also require a City employee to resign from employment after being sworn into an elected office.

Amendment No. 12

Amend Article V, Section 5.04 to clean up language addressing tie votes in council elections and the canvassing of council elections.

Amendment No. 13

Amend Article IX, Section 9.02 to require the Planning and Zoning Commission to provide reports or presentations to the City Council on potential costs or financial impacts regarding matters brought before the Commission.

Amendment No. 14

Amend Article XI, Section 11.07 to require an appointed Charter Review Commission to begin its functions by June 1st of the year in which it is formed.

Amendment No. 15

Amend Article XI, Section 11.08 to comply with state law, which requires voters be allowed to vote to approve or disapprove any one or more proposed charter amendments without having to approve all of the amendments in a single vote. Voters will be deciding on the 16 amendments one at a time during this election as per state law. 

Amendment No. 16

Amend Article XIV, Section 14.01 to align the Charter with state law regarding the hiring of employees or contractors who are related to the Mayor, City Manager, or any City Council member. 

Sales tax for street maintenance

Finally, the ballot will include a special tax election to decide whether to continue a policy that would split the city’s 2 percent sales tax between street maintenance and the budget’s general fund, as it currently does.

This vote follows Texas House Bill 157, which allows voters to reallocate municipal sales tax rates in an amount not exceeding 2 percent.

The council voted on Jan. 9 to continue with the current percentage split and include it on the May ballot.

dakota@thepicayune.com