City Council approves Municipal Civil Service for Police and Fire Department Employees Petition for May 9th Election

By: Jose G. Landa, Copyright 2015, Eagle Pass Business Journal, Inc.

A large and strong contingency of Eagle Pass Police and Fire Department employees attended the Eagle Pass City Council special meeting on Thursday, February 19, 2015, to advocate that their petition for Municipal Civil Service be approved and placed on the City of Eagle Pass’ general election ballot scheduled for May 9, 2015.

A review of the City Police and Fire Department employees petition by City Secretary Imelda Rodriguez and City Attorney Langley & Banack of San Antonio, Texas found that all the legal requirements had been satisfied and recommended to City Council that the petition be placed on the ballot of the City of Eagle Pass’ May 9th general election.

Eagle Pass Mayor Ramsey English Cantu called for Agenda Item No. 6 regarding the consideration and possible action on a petition submitted by City Secretary’s Office for an election to adopt Municipal Civil Service for Firefighters and Police Officers pursuant to Section 143.004 of the Texas Local Government Code.

The Eagle Pass City Council unanimously approved the Police and Fire Department employees petition be placed on the City’s May 9th general election ballot after discussion since the petition had satisfied all the legal requirements under state law and the City Charter.

City Councilman Rudy Villalpando made the motion and City Councilwoman Gloria E. Hernandez seconded the motion to approve the petition be placed on the May 9th ballot. Villalpando, Hernandez, and Mayor Cantu voted in favor. Absent at the February 19th meeting were City Councilman William “Billy” Davis and Mayor Pro-Tem Luis E. Sifuentes. Also absent was City Manager Gloria Barrientos.

During discussion, Mayor Cantu stated that the resolution was calling for a special election to be held on the adoption of the Fire Fighters and Police Officers Civil Service, designating May, 9, 2015 as the date for the special election describing the form on the ballot, designating the polling place, providing the method of voting, providing for absentee voting, and providing for notice of election and providing for an effective date.

“That is the resolution. A copy of the resolution can be obtained through the City Secretary. Since this is a resolution being called by the citizens of the City, it is not handled through the ordinance process but shall be handled as a resolution,” said Mayor Cantu.

City Secretary Imelda Rodriguez stated that the petition had been received on February 2, 2015, and that it had been signed by 779 citizens. The City Secretary’s office reviewed and qualified the 779 signatures or citizens on the petition.   “We also sought legal counsel and we submitted this request to the Mayor and Council on February, 11, 2015. We qualified the votes and we have 618 qualified votes out of the 779. This suffices the percentage that we need for this special election and for this petition to be on the ballot,” said City Secretary Rodriguez.

Legal Counsel Brian Narvaez of Langley & Banack recommended a partial deletion of the resolution calling for the notice of election and providing for an effective date due to the fact that the resolution already addressed the City’s call for an election on May 9th.

City Council unanimously approved the recommendation and amended the motion with said change.

This petition to seek citizens approval of establishing a Municipal Civil Service for Eagle Pass Police and Fire Department employees arose as a result of discontent with the City’s Employee Pay Plan which remains incomplete and dysfunctional today despite being approved in 2013 by City Council. The City’s Employee Pay Plan is deficient with regards to the appropriate job descriptions of certain Police and Fire Department positions resulting in a salary decrease for some employees.

The Civil Service for Firefighters and Police Officers Section of the Texas Local Government Code, Chapter 143, is designed to provide civil service protection for certain municipal employees including police officers and fire fighters.

The original petition submitted by the City employees group states: “We, the undersigned duly qualified voters of the City of Eagle Pass, residing in Maverick County, State of Texas, present this petition pursuant to the Texas Local Government Code, Chapter 143 and the Texas Election Code Chapter 277, to the Mayor and City Council of Eagle Pass, Texas and request the following proposition be submitted without alteration or amendment for an election to be held on the first authorized uniform election date prescribed by the Election Code. Petitioners request and respectfully demand that such necessary action be taken at the next regular session of the City of Eagle Pass City Council to set the election date, and in no event later than thirty days after the filing of these petitions.”

The petition further reads that ” Pursuant to Section 143.004 of the Texas Local Government Code, the proposition is to read as follows: for the proposition “Adoption of the Fire Fighter and Police Officers Civil Service Law or Against the proposition “Adoption of the Fire Fighter and Police Officers Civil Service Law.”

The City employees petition was accompanied with a letter addressed to City Secretary Imelda Rodriguez and states: “We are submitting the required entries signed by registered voters as stated in Section 143.004 (d) of the Texas Local Government Code “to be a valid, petition for subsequent election must contain the signatures of a number of qualified voters of the municipality equal to at least 20% of the number of voters who voted in the most recent municipal election.”

The proposition seeks to secure efficient fire and police departments comprised of capable personnel who are free from political influence and who have permanent employment tenure as public servants. If the petition were to be approved by a majority of Eagle Pass voters at the May 9th general election, City Police and Fire Department employees would now be under the state civil service law instead of the City of Eagle Pass employee rules and procedures.

The Fire Fighter and Police Officer Civil Service Proposition will now go to the City of Eagle Pass registered voters for approval or disapproval on the May, 9, 2015 City of Eagle Pass general election ballot.

To read the Fire Fighter and Police Officer Civil Service law in its entirety you can go to www.statutes.legis.state.tx.us/Docs/LG/htm/LG.143.html.