The Home Rule Charter that should not be?

Former Planning and Zoning Member and later Council Member Nick Stanley strongly advocated for transitioning the City of Aledo from State Law to Home Rule Law. He made two unsuccessful petition attempts to bring Home Rule Law to the voters, with these efforts failing due to insufficient information in his petitions as required by state law. Reportedly, during his final attempt, the City Secretary followed State Law and pointed out the deficiencies to him, explaining why she couldn't accept it. It's said that his response was, "you could accept it if you wanted to."

He was also informed that a petition might not be necessary as the City would automatically qualify for Home Rule without a petition (but still required a vote) after the next census in 2020 due to a population exceeding 5,000. This raised questions about why he was pushing so vigorously for Home Rule Charter (HRC).

RNS's opinion is that the Home Rule Charter should not exist for the following reasons:

In light of the supportive documents generated via use of FOIA/PIR, it is greatly perceived that the City of Aledo violated State Law, rendering the HRC invalid.

According to the LOCAL GOVERNMENT CODE

TITLE 2. ORGANIZATION OF MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT

SUBTITLE A. TYPES OF MUNICIPALITIES

CHAPTER 9. HOME-RULE MUNICIPALITY

Sec. 9.003.  VOTE ON CHARTER.  (a)  Except as provided by Section 9.0045, the charter prepared by the charter commission shall be submitted to the qualified voters of the municipality at an election to be held on the first authorized uniform election date prescribed by the Election Code that allows sufficient time to comply with other requirements of law and that occurs on or after the 40th day after the date the charter commission completes its work.  The governing body of the municipality shall provide for the submission of the charter at the election to the extent that the provisions for submission are not prescribed by general law.

(b)  Before the 30th day before the date of the election, the governing body of the municipality shall order the municipal clerk or the municipal secretary to mail a copy of the proposed charter to each registered voter of the municipality.

Through a FOIA/PIR request we received documents that strongly suggest that state law was violated. As per law, a copy of the HRC should have been mailed to the residents 30 days prior to voting on the HRC. The vote on the HRC was on NOV 2, 2021. The email below marked C states that the HRC was not mailed out to the citizens of Aledo until at least OCT 19, 2021. This is 15 days and not 30 days. 

Why, only the City Secretary knows the answer as to why, but we do know that then City Councilman Nick Stanley was VERY motivated to push through a HRC. 

It is the opinion of RNS that the City of Aledo violated State Law and the HRC is not valid.

In addition, RNS has been told (from a member of the HRC committee) the post card (see picture A below) which we all received in the mail supporting HRC (not too be confused with the copy of the HRC as required by State law) was paid for by Friends of the Home Rule Charter Commission aka Cultivate Aledo - the infamous bible study group that has been alleged to be a cover for business meetings. 

But now we know why Nick Stanley wanted HRC.  With HRC the City is Self Ruled, Self Governing. It appears that then Councilman Nick Stanley and his business partners pushed HRC so that they would have complete control over the city and govern themselves. You may recall that based on county records it appears that Councilman Pearson moved out of the City limits on or about JUN 2023. But we cannot get him to resign? An example of self rule? 

Link to the City of Aledo Home Rule Charter here and a copy below. 

Link to the Texas State Statue here

#DefendAledo #RulesForTheeAndNotForMe #RecallNickStanley