City of Eagle Pass, Texas Voters Emphatically Reject All Six Proposed City Charter Amendments at May 5, 2018 Special Election, Including Proposed Salary Increase for Mayor and City Council

By: Ricardo E. Calderon, Eagle Pass Business Journal, Inc., Copyright 2018

A total of 2,105 City of Eagle Pass, Texas voters cast their ballots in the City Charter Amendments Special Election held on Saturday, May 5, 2018, emphatically rejecting all six proposed Amendments, including Proposition “B” calling for a salary increase for the Mayor of Eagle Pass of up to 60% of the City Manager’s salary and the City Council Members of up to 40% of the City Manager’s salary with a resounding 95.52% “Against” votes.

Here are the following unofficial election results for the six proposed City Charter Amendments:

PROPOSITION “A”-Sought to change the current election of the Mayor and City Council members from an at-large system to a new format where the Mayor and one City Council member would be elected at-large while three City Council members would be elected by single member districts, that is, a smaller group of voters divided into three new City Districts.

Eagle Pass Voters totally rejected Proposition “A” by casting  FOR 288 Votes (13.80%) while casting AGAINST 1,799 Votes (86.20%).  Eagle Pass Voters still prefer to elect their City Council members on an at-large basis instead of the failed single-member districts.

PROPOSITION “B”-Sought to increase the salary of the Mayor and City Council members not to exceed 60% of the City Manager’s salary ($110,000-$140,000 per year) for the Mayor, that is, between $66,000 to $84,000 per year compared to its current $120 per year; and not to exceed 40% of the City Manager’s salary ($110,000-$140,000 per year) for each of the four City Council members, that is, between $44,000 to $56,000 per year compared to its current $120 per year.

Eagle Pass Voters overwhelmingly rejected Proposition “B” by casting only FOR 94 Votes (4.48%) while casting AGAINST 2,003 Votes (95.52%) (Salary Increase for Mayor and City Council).  Proposition “B” received the least votes FOR of all six propositions-only 94 votes- and the most votes AGAINST with a resounding 2,003 votes.  Eagle Passans sent a loud and clear message to City Council that they still want City Council members who are genuinely interested in public service as a privilege and honor to serve the community instead of doing it for pay as a professional politician.

PROPOSITION “C”-Sought to change the hiring or appointment of the City Secretary by the City Manager to a new method of being hired by the City Council, taking away this power from the City Manager.

Eagle Passans cast only FOR 275 Votes (13.16%) compared to AGAINST 1,815 Votes (86.84%) on Proposition “C,” decisively defeating Proposition “B.” Eagle Pass citizens clearly expressed to City Council that they want to keep the City Manager-City Council form of government as originally approved by our Founding Fathers in the 1964 City Charter instead of changing to a Mayor-City Council form of government sought by Proposition “C.”

PROPOSITION “D”-Sought to change the hiring of all City Department Heads by the City Manager to a new method of being hired by the City Council, deleting this authority from the City Manager.

Eagle Pass Voters soundly rejected Proposition “D” by only casting FOR 222 Votes (10.79%) compared to AGAINST 1,836 Votes (89.21%). Eagle Passans do not want City Council to change their original City Manager-City Council form of government.

PROPOSITION “E”-Sought to impose a new candidate registration fee for every person who registered to run for Mayor and City Council of $600 instead of keeping it free.  Eagle Pass Voters favored keeping free candidate registrations instead of creating a new $600 fee per candidate by casting only FOR 271 Votes (12.98%) compared to AGAINST 1,817 Votes (87.02%).  Eagle Passans disfavor restricting who can run for Mayor or City Council to only those who have money, but believe in keeping public government open and free to everyone that one wants to run for public office who satisfy the eligibility requirements.

PROPOSITION “F”-Sought to require the City Manager to provide City Council an annual report on the City’s Master Plan.  Although Proposition “F” was a good idea, it fell victim to the groundswell of animosity created by the other propositions as Eagle Pass Voters only cast FOR 571 Votes (27.36%) compared to  AGAINST 1,516 Votes (72.64%) on Proposition “F.”

Eagle Pass voters overwhelmingly voted “AGAINST” all proposed City Charter Amendments recommended by the Eagle Pass City Council, composed of Mayor Ramsey English Cantu and City Council Members Yolanda P. Ramon, Rudy Villalpando, Luis E. Sifuentes, and William “Billy” Davis.

Eagle Pass citizens present at the final election results center noted that taxpayers have sent a loud and clear message to the Mayor and City Council that communications between them and their constituents definitely need to improve to avoid such embarrassing Special Election results and a waste of taxpayers monies in holding such an election, as well as return to  the real issues facing the citizens of Eagle Pass.