Lago Vista charter review panel backs 3‑year terms and majority voting; debates mayor duties, agenda time limits and scrivener corrections

The Lago Vista Charter Review Committee voted March 5 to recommend that city elected offices move to three‑year terms and that election language be revised so elections require a majority rather than a plurality when state law makes majority voting applicable. Committee members also debated mayoral duties and signature authority, whether items requested by two or more council members can be delayed, and how to bundle scrivener (grammatical and formatting) corrections on the ballot.

The committee’s recommendation on term length and voting method will be forwarded to the city council as proposed charter amendments for council consideration and possible placement on the ballot. Committee members agreed that, if term lengths are extended to three years, state law may require majority voting for certain offices and the committee should replace references to "plurality" with "majority" throughout the charter where appropriate. Committee members asked staff and counsel to draft specific transition language and to identify every charter location that must change; one member said the draft showed "plurality" appeared about 14 times and other participants noted there are many other minor scrivener issues.

Why it matters: changing term length and election rules alters how often seats come up for election, how ballots are structured and whether more elections fall on high‑turnout years. The committee’s recommendation would be a citywide change requiring council action and, likely, voter approval.

Key formal actions and outcomes - Minutes: The committee approved minutes from its Feb. 19 meeting by voice vote (unanimous), affirming the meeting record. - Eminent domain language: The…