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Gun Barrel City council sends animal-control ordinance to November ballot after petition certified sufficient
Summary
City Secretary Janet Dillard certified 207 valid signatures on a referendum petition challenging ordinance O-2026-003 governing animal control; council voted to deny repeal and place the ordinance on the next uniform election date, staff said November is the likely date.
Council on June 23 voted to send an animal-control ordinance to the voters after the city secretary certified a filed referendum petition as legally sufficient. The petition challenged ordinance O-2026-003, and City Secretary Janet Dillard told the council she verified 207 signatures, surpassing the charter threshold.
"Following a review of the petition, 207 signatures were verified and the petition is legally sufficient," Dillard said in her presentation. Under the city charter, a verified petition meeting the signature threshold requires the council to either repeal the ordinance or submit it to voters.
After brief procedural discussion about options, councilmembers voted to deny repeal and send the measure to a future uniform election date. City staff said the next available uniform election date is in November and that, if council declines to repeal, the referendum question will be placed on that ballot.
The council packet shows staff prepared draft ordinance O-2026-027 that would repeal O-2026-003 if the council chose that route; instead, the referendum process will allow city voters to decide. Council did not take additional action on policy substance during the meeting; staff will work with the city secretary and city attorney to finalize the scheduling and ballot language.
Next steps: staff will place the question on the appropriate election calendar and notify the petitioners of the action. The city secretary’s certification is part of the official record.
