White House council OKs interlocal with Smith County and orders November elections, puts charter amendments on special ballot

The White House City Council on Aug. 5 approved a resolution authorizing the city manager to enter an interlocal agreement with Smith County Elections Administration to conduct the city’s November joint election and passed ordinances calling regular and special elections that will put municipal races and proposed Home Rule Charter amendments before voters. The actions matter because they set filing deadlines, early-voting windows and the ballot language process for amendments to the city’s charter that the council and a charter review commission produced. Council members adopted resolution R25-0805-01 authorizing the interlocal agreement after City staff explained that Smith County has been a partner in previous elections and offers expanded voting options. “Smith County has been a great partner to us, and I can say for myself and, as I stated, for Susan too, they are an asset to us and staff. They also offer expanded voting options for our citizens,” a staff member explained during the meeting. The council then approved ordinance 25-0805-01 calling and ordering the election for Council Place 1, Council Place 3 and Council Place 5. City staff said filing for a place on the ballot is open through Monday, Aug. 18; early voting will take place Oct. 20–Oct. 31; and Election Day is scheduled for Nov. 4. Staff noted the ordinance omitted some election-day polling locations because Smith County had not finalized those sites at the time the packet was prepared. The council also approved ordinance 25-0805-02 calling a special election to submit eight proposed amendments to the White House Home Rule Charter to qualified city voters. Staff described the amendments as the product of the charter review commission’s work and said one previously-discussed change (a proposed lengthening of a post-term employment restriction) was removed from the propositions after staff compared it to the charter’s existing language. On that change, staff said the charter currently provides that “no council member or mayor shall receive such appointment during the term of which they shall have been elected nor within 2 years after the expiration of his or her term,” and that council discussion proposing a longer restriction was withdrawn so the item was not placed on the ballot. Staff also advised the council that ballot language must be precise and limited to what the charter text would actually change; staff recommended a public information campaign to explain the effects of the proposed amendments without advocating for or against them. Council members requested staff obtain a quote from an outside firm to help with voter education materials; staff said they can also distribute factual information in-house and will return with cost estimates for outside assistance. The ordinance and related motions passed on unanimous votes. Less-critical details: staff removed one previously-drafted election date from the interlocal agreement as a clerical correction, and the council discussed whether unopposed candidates would appear on the ballot; staff said unopposed candidates are currently shown as unopposed on the ballot rather than being omitted. The council’s actions set the timetable and administrative arrangements for the municipal and charter votes and direct staff to prepare voter information ahead of the November election.