Austin City Council Slammed With Lawsuit Over Ballot Amendments

The Austin City Council is being sued for allegedly violating the Texas Open Meetings Act when adding a slate of charter amendments to the Nov 5 ballot. The lawsuit, filed in the Travis County 98th District Court, claims the council showed "arrogant disdain for transparency."

The Austin City Council is becoming lawless... Mayor Watson and the Council majority are undermining democracy with violations of the Texas Open Meetings Act. - Bill Aleshire, former Travis County judge and attorney for the plaintiffs

The lawsuit argues that compressing all amendments into one agenda item violated public participation and notice requirements. It seeks to invalidate the council's approval, which could result in the 13 charter amendments being struck from this year's ballot.

Amending the Austin City Charter

The Austin city charter is a comprehensive document outlining the city's rules. Proposed changes include:

• Raising the signature threshold for recalling a council member
• Giving the council power to appoint/remove the city attorney
• Requiring initiative elections/charter changes on even-year Nov ballots

Save Our Springs Alliance, an environmental nonprofit, and two others have sued. The council and mayor did not comment, only stating they are reviewing the lawsuit.

Sources/URLs:

• https://www.sos.state.tx.us/elections/voter/important-election-dates.shtml
• https://www.austinchronicle.com/news/2019/09/09/city-council-hit-with-open-meetings-lawsuit-over-charter-amendments/ (original article)