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Committee refines administrative language, discusses city secretary’s authority to hire deputies
Summary
The charter panel agreed to remove 'chief executive officer' from the city-manager clause in Article 4 and discussed language to allow the city secretary to hire deputies subject to budget and commission approval; counsel flagged checks-and-balances reasons for mirroring appointment language across appointees.
Members of the Ennis Charter Review Committee discussed clarifying administrative roles and the hiring authority of charter officers during the June 3 meeting. The committee agreed to strike the term "chief executive officer" from the city manager clause in Section 4.01 and to instead designate the city manager as head of the administrative branch. The committee also discussed whether the charter should expressly allow the city secretary to appoint deputies and whether those appointments should be constrained by budgeted full-time equivalents (FTEs).
The city attorney explained the rationale for the four-appointee structure (city manager, city attorney, city secretary, municipal judge) and said it is common practice for those appointees to select deputies subject to the budget approved by the commission. "The whole point of having 4 appointees is kind of a check and balance system," the city attorney said, urging language that preserves that separation of duties while aligning appointments with the adopted budget.
Committee members favored mirrored language so that the city secretary may hire deputies but within the constraints of the budget the commission approves; members discussed adding a clause that the secretary may appoint deputies subject to commission approval of budgeted positions. Several members asked that counsel present draft language that mirrors the city manager’s appointment authority and addresses compensation and budget limits.
The committee also identified a set of gender-neutral edits and asked counsel to apply those corrections across the charter where appropriate. Members asked staff to begin recruiting for the deputy city secretary position given an upcoming staffing change and to coordinate posting at HR once the commission finalizes its appointment decisions.
What’s next: Counsel will draft mirror-language for appointee deputies consistent with budget authority and return a clean redline. Staff will prepare to post for a deputy city secretary as permitted by HR and the current budget while the charter revision process continues.
This article is based on the committee’s June 3 discussion about Articles 4 and 6 and recorded guidance from the city attorney and staff.
