Ennis panel tightens recall rules, sets 45-day filing window after debate over 30 vs. 60 days

The Ennis Charter Review Committee on June 3 approved revised recall procedures in section 3.14 of the Home Rule Charter, adopting a compromise filing window of 45 calendar days after petitioners file an affidavit with the city secretary.

Committee members and counsel spent substantial time debating whether a 30-day window would allow sufficient time to gather the required number of signatures — and whether a 60-day window would be better — before settling on 45 days. Counsel said the redlined provision aims to reduce longtime ambiguities in the charter about who verifies signatures, when signature collection begins and who is eligible to vote in a recall.

The adopted provision keeps the charter’s existing signature threshold language that a successful recall petition requires either signatures equal to 30% of the number of voters entitled to vote for that place in the last preceding general municipal election or 150 signatures, whichever is greater. During the meeting a member cited an approximate registered-voter roll of 12,000 when illustrating what 30% would mean for collection efforts.

Committee debate highlighted two procedural differences in the draft: whether prospective petitioners may collect signatures before filing the affidavit that forms the petitioners committee, and how many people must form that committee. The drafter’s redline initially referenced forming a petitioners committee of “10 or more qualified voters.” In discussion counsel later noted the provision could be drafted to permit a smaller committee (he said "it could be 5 people"), creating an inconsistency in the transcript that committee members asked counsel to resolve in writing.

Staff and counsel also recommended clarifying whether short deadlines should be stated in business days (to exclude weekends and holidays) and aligning public-hearing scheduling language; the committee adopted specific edits to require certain hearings between 5 and 15 business days where appropriate.

Chair introduced the motion to adopt the revised 3.14 language with the filing change; Mayor Isbell moved, Member Hull seconded, and the motion passed by voice vote.

What’s next: Counsel will return a cleaned final draft reflecting the 45-day deadline, clarified petitioner-committee language (whether five, ten or another number is required), and the business-day vs. calendar-day clarifications for short deadlines. The City Secretary’s Office is to prepare administrative guidance and petition forms once the language is finalized.

This article is grounded in the committee’s June 3 transcript and the committee’s recorded motion to adopt the 45-day filing provision.