Austin voters could decide this November whether to make it harder to recall City Council members, rewrite the rules for citizen-led ballot measures and give the council the power to hire and fire the city attorney. The proposals are part of a sweeping package of proposed City Charter amendments that could reshape how City Hall operates.<\/p>\n
Austin was supposed to have a charter election<\/a> in 2024. But the city canceled it just three months before Election Day after a Travis County district judge issued a temporary court order that halted the city from placing the amendments on the ballot. That\u2019s because the judge found that\u00a0 the city had violated the Texas Open Meetings Act when it called the election.\u00a0<\/p>\n The council\u2019s Audit and Finance Committee discussed the possible charter election at the end of May before council went on break. Committee members will decide whether to recommend an election to the full council at their next meeting on July 22.\u00a0<\/p>\n Council Member Ryan Alter, who sponsored the 2023 request for the charter amendment,\u00a0 said he wants to discuss whether council members should be allowed to initiate elections. That power is currently reserved for residents through a public petition process.<\/p>\n Alter said the change could give council members a useful way to ask voters to weigh in on policy questions, but he warned that it also could let elected officials dodge responsibility or put unproductive measures on the ballot.<\/p>\n \u201cThat could be a benefit, [or it] could be abused,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n