Should the size of the Bastrop City Council be increased?

Should the six-year term limits be extended?

Citizens packed the Bastrop City Council chambers on May 13 to give their input to such questions to the advisory Charter Review Committee that has been studying the city’s home rule charter for possible revisions.

“This is the first comprehensive review of the charter,” said Ken Kesselus, chair of the committee and a city council member.

The committee has been meeting since last fall and said any recommendations would need to come to city council “sometime before July,” so that council has enough time to study recommendations and possibly call for a November election to revise the charter.

One of the topics discussed was whether the current number of council members – five plus the mayor – should be increased.

Kesselus said the city’s population had more than doubled since the charter’s adoption at a May 2002 election.

Audience member Martha Harris raised concerns about the wisdom of adding a sixth council member when there has been a lack of candidates filing in recent elections. In the May 8 election, for example, two of three candidates went unchallenged – Terry Orr and council member Julie Hart.

Harris also wondered if six council members might lead to an increased number of voting ties.

“Yes, with six, there would be a greater likelihood of a tie,” Kesselus agreed.

Shawn Pletsch said that instead of adding new members to the council, perhaps some extra help could be found to assist the council in getting better informed about city business, “rather than dumping it on a new guy” – a reference to a potential sixth member.

Pletsch said she was referring to the substantial time it can take some new council members to get properly educated about council business.

Council term limits

At this time, council members are limited to no more than six consecutive years on the council.

Several current council members, not part of the charter review committee, were sitting in the audience and offered their opinions.

Council member Kay Garcia McAnally said keeping the current term limits “keeps new blood and new ideas” coming to the council.

When audience member Charles Schroeder said, “I don’t think we’ve heard from anybody opposed to the six-year term limit,” former council member Dock Jackson responded, “I beg to differ.”

Jackson said the amount of experience that accumulates from incumbents being in office several years is a valuable commodity that should not necessarily be jettisoned after six years.

Council member Julie Hart described the current term limit requirements as “pretty soft.” She emphasized that 11 months after leaving office, due to the six-year limit, council members can run for office again and begin a new six-year limit.

When one unidentified audience member called out that everybody shouldn’t necessarily assume that council members get better educated after two years in office, laughter ensued.

The Charter Review Committee will meet once again in June, with the date still to be specified, before their recommendations are given to the city council, Kesselus said.

“The council will then decide whether to call for an election,” Kesselus said.

One item that will be discussed at the next meeting, Kesselus said, is whether or not the city should move to single member districts. This would require the city to be divided into wards and each council member would be a resident in a single ward.