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Council recalls ordinances and votes to reinstate city administrator office after heated public debate
Summary
After more than two hours of public comment and legal argument, the Haslet City Council voted Aug. 4 to recall three prior ordinances and reinstate the office and job duties of a city administrator, a move opponents said should be decided by voters.
The Haslet City Council voted Aug. 4 to recall ordinances and reinstate the office and duties of a city administrator, prompting extensive public comment and legal debate over whether the change should be made by the council or by a citizen petition and vote.
Councilmember Watkins introduced the item as a recall of three previous ordinances (listed in the packet as ordinance numbers 0102-02, 0902-03 and 012-2012) to restore the city-administrator position. The proposed action does not create a charter or change the city’s form of government; rather, council members said, it would restore an administrative office to manage day-to-day operations while elected officials set policy.
The agenda item generated lengthy public comment. Many residents — including multiple speakers who said they had emailed the council — urged the council not to reinstate a city administrator without a public vote. Speakers cited past experience with a city administrator that they said produced poor outcomes and added ongoing costs, and they referenced a Texas Attorney General opinion (JC‑0544) and the city attorney’s written analysis included in the council packet, which warns that certain mayoral powers cannot be delegated under state law.
Other residents and several board members spoke in favor of reinstating an on-site administrator to provide operational capacity, citing growth, the need for sustained project management and the mayor’s heavy workload. "This is about the future," one councilmember said during discussion, urging the council to add administrative capacity so the mayor can act as the city’s public-facing leader.
City Attorney Jeremy Page told the council the July packet included a legal analysis that draws on the attorney-general opinion and state statutes; he said the council must not remove statutorily assigned duties from the mayor. He recommended that any specific ordinance drafted to reinstate an administrator be careful to preserve those statutory mayoral duties. Page also said whether the mayor’s attendance in HCEDC executive session or whether an executive-session disclosure violated law is a fact-dependent question and that a formal determination would require additional review or outside counsel.
After public comment and debate, a councilmember moved to recall the three ordinances and reinstate the office and job duties of a city administrator. The motion carried by unanimous vote; council instructed staff to draft the implementing ordinance language for future consideration.
Why it matters: The action restores an administrative office tied to how the city will manage a period of rapid growth, city staffing and external negotiations. Opponents argued the change should be placed before voters or carefully constrained so that the city does not delegate statutorily assigned mayoral duties.
What comes next: City staff and the city attorney will prepare ordinance language that would specify the administrator’s duties consistent with state law; budget adjustments to fund the position, if any, will be considered before the final adoption of a job description and compensation.
