Currently, the City of Leon Valley is a General Law City operating under a Council-Manager form of government with a Mayor and five City Council Members elected at-large. The Mayor and City Council Members hold two year terms of office, and are elected and serve on an at-large basis.

A General Law City means a municipality is limited to governmental structures and powers specifically granted by state law. General Law cities are bound by doctrine that says that a unit of local government may exercise only those powers that the state expressly grants to it.

Under the Home Rule structure a city exercises powers granted by the state, but ALSO has the ability to adopt measures of local importance not authorized specifically by the state.

A city may elect to become a Home Rule City once the City exceeds 5,000 population and the voters agree to become a Home Rule City. Home Rule City means a city adopts a home rule charter for their local self-governance. The citizens of a Home Rule City are free to choose their own form of municipal government, choose between a large or small city council, fix the terms of office of council members, etc.

The City Council on July 14, 2014 decided to appoint a Home Rule Charter Commission. The Commission consists of 11 members. Their charge is to create a proposed Home Rule Charter for presentation to City Council, and ultimately, for the Home Rule Charter to be placed on the ballot for consideration of the citizens at the May 9, 2015 general election.

The Commission has met four times since their appointment. They have approved a table of contents for the home rule charter which consists of:

1. Form of Government and Powers
2. Boundaries
3. The City Council and Mayor
4. Elections
5. Administrative Organization
6. Initiative, Referendum and Recall
7. General Provisions
8. Transitional Provisions

They have approved Article I which creates a City Council-City Manager form of government and Article II which provides for the continuation of the existing boundaries of the City of Leon Valley, and process for annexing and releasing City territory.

The Commission has spent the majority of their time debating Article III, The City Council and Mayor. To date they have tentatively approved:

1. The general powers and duties of City Council;
2. The qualifications for office of City Council;
3. That the total number of City Council be increased from six to seven, to include six council members and a mayor;
4. That the mayor shall have the same voting privileges as the council members but shall have no veto powers;
5. That City Council terms of office be increased from 2 years to 3 years;
6. That term limits be placed on City Council by providing that no officer shall serve more than three consecutive terms and no more than five terms total;
7. The appointment and duties of the Mayor Pro Tem;
8. Forfeitures of office, vacancies and the filling of vacancies of City Council;
9. Prohibitions placed on City Council;

The currently approved articles and sections may be found here.

The next topics for discussion and action by the Commission at up-coming meetings are:

IV.          Elections
V.            Administrative Organization
VI.          Initiative, Referendum and Recall
VII.         General Provisions
VIII.        Transitional Provisions

The Home Rule Charter Commission meets on the 1st and 3rd Wednesday's of the month at City Hall at 6:00 pm.

The Home Rule Charter Commission is expected to present the recommended charter in February 2015, and for a citizen vote at the May 9, 2015 general election.

The Leon Valley City Council is looking for volunteers to serve on the Board of Adjustment.

The duties of the Board are:

• To hear appeals from individuals contesting the decision of a zoning enforcement officer;
• To hear and decide special exceptions to the Zoning Ordinance; and
• To grant variances to the terms of the Zoning Ordinance where unusual conditions make its literal enforcement unjust.

This Board is a Tier I Board which means it is a Statutory Board (Policy Making Board) and as stated in Ordinance No. 2014-01-13-02, does require that any new applicant to the Board be interviewed by the City Council.

If you are interested, please visit the City's website or stop by City Hall for an application.

http://www.leonvalleytexas.gov/mayor_and_city_council/volunteer.php 

Thank you for your consideration.