MAYOR’S CORNER

The council as a whole (not necessarily individual members that come and go and who by the time they understand the system have become tired of it all and either quit or not run again) has been operating and wants to continue to operate outside the normal structure of the Texas Local Government Code with a “work around”. They have not gone through the statutorily recognized process under Chapter 25 to have a Manager form of local government. In a City-Manager form of local government the “Manager” is the Budget Office and has all the responsibilities of the Chief Executive Officer in the day to day operations and administration. This form of local government is only optional for small cities with less than 5000 citizens. Small cities typically have low operating funds and usually little to no ad-valorum, property tax. Subsequently, the governing body, Council and Mayor, are elected into volunteer positions. City Managers however are appointed, generously paid and awarded all the benefits of a senior officer. Texas State Stature mandates that citizens in small towns are to be given the opportunity to vote if adopting this form of government. The decision comes down to can we afford it and more importantly do we want to relinquish control. Keep in mind that City Managers are appointed by the Council. Every year two to three out of five council members turn over. Having them all agree on the performance, competency and/or retention of a city manager becomes unmanageable. An incompetent City Manager could hang on for years. Whereas Mayors are elected every other year. If the elected Mayor turns out to be incompetent in representation of their city and especially those who voted for them, they simply don’t get re-elected.

I believe you deserve to have a say in how your city operates and how your dollars are spent. Therefore, I am placing a petition at City Hall, if you would like to see this put to vote on the next city election in May please add your name. You can also sign up by emailing me directly at [email protected] and I will add your name to the petition. We need to have a clear direction of what you want. If the petition takes it to vote and the vote passes to operate under Chapter 25 of the Texas Local Government Code and have a City-Manager operation in Wimberley then it will be clear who’s at the Helm.