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Tomball council adopts ordinance to place four charter propositions on May 2 special election
Summary
On Feb. 23 the Tomball City Council adopted Ordinance 20267 to call a May 2, 2026 special charter election that will present four propositions to voters on quorum rules, engineering responsibilities, ordinance publication rules and council approval for certain positions.
The Tomball City Council on Feb. 23 adopted Ordinance 20267 to call a special charter election on May 2, 2026, placing four propositions before voters.
The measures—labeled Propositions A through D—would: (A) amend charter language in section 613 to clarify quorum rules and add language prohibiting communications about city business by three or more council members outside a posted meeting in line with the Texas Open Meetings Act; (B) move engineering responsibilities to the Public Works department; (C) change how ordinance publication and readings are described so that the city publishes the ordinance within 14 days of final adoption (council clarified ordinances will still receive two readings even though publication timing changes); and (D) remove the requirement that the council approve appointments for certain positions, including the assistant city manager, police chief, city secretary, finance director, fire chief, public works director and director of community development.
Shannon, the staff member presenting the ordinance, told the council the propositions were included in the meeting packet and that only the bolded language will appear on the ballot. "The ballot will only have the bold language," Shannon said, clarifying how the measure will be presented to voters. City attorney Thomas Harris told the council the motion would include a caption correction so the election caption matches the ballot language and that the correction would be recorded in the minutes. "We will notate in the motion the correction to the caption...so that it matches the ballot language," Harris said.
A motion to adopt Ordinance 20267 was made and seconded and a voice vote was called; several council members responded during the roll-call/voice vote portion recorded in the transcript. The transcript does not record a verbatim roll-call tally in full; the council proceeded to adjourn after the vote.
Next steps: the ordinance places the four propositions on the May 2, 2026 ballot; city staff indicated they will correct the caption in the motion and reflect that change in the meeting minutes.
