My attention has been focused since Election Day on the national implications of the midterm election and on Democrats’ astonishing performance in keeping control of the Senate and cutting Republicans’ effort to gain control of the House.
But here in Princeton, Texas, we had an important election that affects the manner in which our city government will be able to do business.
Fifty-six percent of the voters who cast ballots approved a city charter for the city where my wife and I have lived for nearly four years. This is an important step toward what I call “municipal adulthood.”
Princeton is a city in a serious growth mode. Our population is exploding, and I believe firmly that the outcome at the ballot box was determined by the numbers of new residents who decided to lift the city into the 21st century. The final tally was 2,257 votes in favor compared to 1,787 votes against.
Princeton had been governed as a “general law” city, meaning its laws were set by the Texas Legislature. The city had tried four times previously to approve a charter; it failed all four times, chiefly because of opposition from those who lived outside the city limits. Think of the irony. These charter foes opposed it because of annexation concerns, yet they couldn’t even cast ballots to oppose it, as the referendum was limited only to those who live inside the city’s corporate limits.
Well, the annexation matter has been settled. The city’s voters turned out in significantly greater numbers than they had in previous elections to approve the charter.
This means the city now can set its own rules, which is necessary for a growing community such as ours.
it was a good day, indeed, for those of us who are concerned about the tone of the Republican Party’s rhetoric. Election Day 2022 also proved to be a good day for those of us who favored Princeton’s City Hall’s decision to ask for voters’ permission to run its affairs with a home-rule charter.
To their great credit, our neighbors in Princeton answered the call.