Tag Archives: home rule charter

local news

Let’s quell this misinformation

Small-town politics can be as divisive and nasty as anywhere on Earth and it is with that caveat I offer a brief comment on an argument that is stewing in a city near my North Texas home.

Farmersville is going to have an election May 6 that seeks to establish a Municipal Development District. In order to move forward with the MDD, the city needs an endorsement by voters to allow the MDD to continue operating within an expanded “extraterritorial jurisdiction,” which comprises land outside the city limits.

A recent home-rule charter election Farmersville allowed the city expand its ETJ from half-mile to a mile outside its city limits.

Therein lies the rub, in the eyes of many residents living in the ETJ. They believe the city wants to annex their property. They also are expressing the view that the city will just reach out and grab their land.

Whoa! No can do!

The 2017 Texas Legislature enacted a law that disallows cities from annexing property at will. Cities need to acquire permission from the property owners to annex their land. That’s per state law. Period. It is beyond dispute.

The Farmersville discussion seems to be veering out of control, because of what I believe are fears from residents who are accusing the city of wanting to do something that it cannot legally do.

I do not believe Farmersville officials want to intentionally break state law. Those who ascribe such motives to their elected officials, though, are taking cynicism to a new level.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

local news

Get ready for rapid growth

Four years ago, my bride and I made what we knew at the time would be one of the most important decisions of our married life: We found a home in a community in the midst of a population explosion.

We chose to move into a newly built home in Princeton, Texas, which is in Collin County, nearly 40 miles north of downtown Dallas. We downsized from our previous abode in Amarillo. It’s perfect for the two of us.

What’s the point? It is that Princeton’s growth rate is unlike anything I’ve ever seen up close. The city’s population effectively tripled between the 2010 and 2020 census. The house we chose is in the middle of a subdivision that is still growing.

I came out of retirement to work as a freelance reporter for a weekly newspaper group. Only recently, my bosses at the newspaper assigned me to cover goings-on in Princeton. I am delighted to cover the news of the community I now call home.

But there’s a huge assignment awaiting me. It will enable me to cover plans for the Princeton Independent School District to deal with the population growth that is placing enormous strain on the district’s ability to keep pace. It looks as though Princeton ISD is going to present the third bond issue since 2017. Voters approved a bond issue election that year and again in 2019. I don’t want to get ahead of myself on what I project will occur in the weeks to come. I do, though, feel comfortable asserting that PISD has a raging tiger on its hands.

Our house is two blocks from an elementary school that opened in 2019. Three school years later, it has two portable classrooms assembled next to the playground. I was told that Lowe Elementary School basically was over capacity when the doors opened for the first time.

So it goes in a city that is bursting at the seams. The school system needs places to put its exploding student population. The city recently received voters’ endorsement of a city charter, which is a sign of municipal maturity for Princeton. Traffic in Princeton grinds to a halt during morning and afternoon rush hours along the major highway that intersects the city; the state has plans to improve traffic flow that cannot be realized soon enough.

My bride and I, frankly, are happy to witness our city grow, to mature and to change its identity from tiny burg to a community of significant consequence.

This is a first for us. We are anxious to see how our city grows up.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

local news

Expressing thanks for charter vote

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.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

local news

City needs to wipe away annexation myth

Whoever leads the Princeton, Texas, citizens campaign to approve a home-rule charter will have to destroy a myth that doomed the city’s latest effort at winning voter approval of this proposal.

It’s the myth of annexation. More specifically, it is the myth that a home-rule charter gives a city carte blanche to seize property at will.

It does not.

The 2017 Texas Legislature enacted a law that requires property owners to grant approval of any annexation effort by a city. That includes, quite naturally, Princeton. Yet the city’s most recent election, which occurred after the law took effect, went down because property owners outside the city limits put the scare into residents over the annexation matter.

Well, the city has exploded in size since then. Thousands more people live in the city, which saw its population effectively triple from the 2010 census to the 2020 census.

Princeton long ago grew into a city that needs to govern its own future, rather than running as a “general law” city subject to laws enacted by the Legislature.

City Hall, of course, cannot campaign on behalf of this project. State law prohibits local governments from spending public money on political campaigns. That leaves the campaigning for this project up to a citizens panel.

My best advice is for the campaign committee to zero in on the annexation myth that — according to some City Hall observers — simply refuses to die.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

local news

Home rule for Princeton … finally?

Well, those who serve us at Princeton City Hall are possibly asking: Will the umpteenth election to create a home-rule charter for the city be the one that sticks to the wall?

Actually, what is coming up on Nov. 8 will be the fifth city charter election for Princeton. Count me as one relatively new Princeton resident who wants the measure to succeed and I intend to vote “yes” when the city presents it in just a few weeks.

The charter has failed four times at the ballot box. Opposition to annexation policies torpedoed previous efforts. The 2017 Legislature took care of that issue by declaring that cities cannot annex property without property owners’ permission.

A citizens committee has been working non-stop for seemingly forever on a draft document. The panel finished the work, and the City Council ordered the election to occur this fall.

The draft city charter has a couple of fascinating aspects that should appeal politically to residents. It sets term limits for council members and the mayor; it also creates single-member districts for four council members. The current council does not have any limits on the number of terms members can serve and the current council also is elected citywide. As the Princeton Herald reported: “No city officer will be able to serve more than eight consecutive years as mayor or council member. A total cap of 16 years of cumulative service will also take effect.” 

I covered — as a freelance reporter for the Farmersville Times — a similar election earlier this year in Farmersville, which also drafted a city charter. That city’s measure passed by a wide margin. My hope for Princeton is that its voters, too, will approve a charter, which to my way of thinking gives the city much greater say in setting the rules by which we all should live. What’s more, there’s a whole lot more of us living in Princeton than there were during previous citywide charter elections.

I have been covering this story as well for KETR-FM radio. I wrote this piece for KETR.org:

Piece of Mind: A Charter For Princeton? (ketr.org)

Princeton’s status as a general-law city means our council’s hands are tied to following state law. It’s fair, therefore, to ask: Would you rather have those rules set by those who live here among us or by those who live in faraway corners of our far-flung state?

State law does require something quite useful as we ponder this upcoming election: It requires the city to send copies of the draft charter to every registered voter in the city. It’ll come in the mail and I encourage all Princeton voters to look it over … with care and discernment.

Our city continues to grow in large leaps and bounds. Our elected City Council needs the power to set its own rules. I hope we have the wisdom to grant our fellow Princeton residents that authority.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

local news

Turnout still pitiful

Eleven percent! I hope Princeton voters will pay attention to what happened down the highway over this weekend.

That was the turnout of registered voters in Farmersville, Texas, for a citywide election to determine three seats on the City Council and — this is critical — to determine the fate of a proposal to adopt a home-rule charter for the city.

With that, 11% of the city’s registered voters managed to drag themselves to the polls to cast their votes.

I am terribly dissatisfied with the turnout. Granted, the results of the balloting are a different matter. I will speak specifically of the home-rule charter result.

That is a big fu**ing deal, to borrow a quote from the current president of the United States who muttered it while serving as VP as Congress approved the Affordable Care Act.

The home-rule charter passed with a 174-59 vote in favor of the proposal. By my calculation, that presents an 11.3% turnout of registered votes. That miserable turnout prompts me to ask: What in the name of voter apathy does a city have to do get people interested enough to vote on a matter as critical as this?

State law required the city to distribute copies of the proposed home-rule charter to every registered voter in Farmersville. City Secretary Tabatha Monk did as she was instructed. With the help of Collin County’s election office, she determined the voter count in the city stood at 2,122.

Every registered voter in Farmersville received a copy of the document. I have tried on this blog to explain the significance of a city being able to set its own rules without having to rely on state statutes. I guess few of our friends in Farmersville were paying attention.

Local elections allow voters to make decisions on those who set policies that have a direct impact on our lives. Strangely — and shamefully — these local elections almost always seem to produce the kind of turnouts we saw on Saturday down the road in Farmersville.

I now must wonder what my neighbors in Princeton will do when they get the chance to vote on a home-rule charter. It might be later this year, or it could be in the spring of 2023. The city is working now on a document to present to voters. We’ll all get copies of the charter when it’s ready to present.

I will vote on it. As I said about the Farmersville charter, it’s a really big … deal!

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

local news

Home rule panel slogs on

Princeton’s home-rule charter committee is moving forward on drafting a document that it hopes will be ready for the city’s voters to decide this coming November.

I am hearing a bit of chatter that the city’s effort to craft a governing document that enables the city to govern itself might not pass voters’ muster when they cast their ballots. I do hope that chatter is wrong.

The basis for that chatter comes from the city’s misstep in setting up the committee. Voters gave the city permission to create a charter committee this past November. It didn’t have enough members. The city then disbanded the committee and formed a new one. The process delayed the municipal vote, which now is tentatively set for this fall.

I am going to bank on the notion put forth by Mayor Brianna Chacon, who told me that the city’s burgeoning population has brought in a fresh new set of opinions on this issue. It will need those outlooks to reverse four previous citywide rejections of previous charter proposals.

The dealbreaker in those elections was the annexation. The 2017 Texas Legislature took that issue off the table by enacting a law that requires cities to obtain property owners’ permission to annex their property. Thus, that argument is no longer valid.

I am going to hope that Princeton is able to enact a city charter so it becomes a home-rule city instead of a general law city that is governed by rules established by state statutes.

Indeed, the city’s population has exploded. Princeton now is home to an estimated 20,000-plus residents. That number is growing each day. I see it happening in my neighborhood, where houses are spring up like prairie weeds.

There is no end in sight.

I wish the home-rule panel as it slogs its way through the process of drafting a document that will enable Princeton, Texas, to set its own rules for how it governs itself.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

local news

Home-rule election is set

Princeton residents are going to get a chance to vote to establish a home-rule charter for the community that is exploding with new residents moving in almost daily.

It took a little hiccup along the way to make it official, but the city’s fifth try at establishing a home-rule charter is going to occur.

The hiccup occurred when, after voters in November approved the formation of a home-rule charter committee, the city couldn’t recruit the minimum of 15 members to serve on the panel that would draft a charter for voters to consider and decide. The city council had to hustle to find enough members. So, it met the other evening in executive (or closed) session to make the decision it needed to make. It then ratified its decision with a recorded vote.

And so, the work begins in drafting a charter that it will present to voter in May.

The charter is an important document for Princeton. Its population has exploded, from 6,807 residents in 2010 to more than 17,000 in 2020; the latter number is growing rapidly at this very moment.

Princeton governs itself as a general law city, meaning it has to follow the rules and laws established by the Legislature. Home rule gives the city greater latitude in deciding zoning matters and establishes a purely “local control” over the way it governs the residents who live here.

I am all in favor of a home rule charter for the city my wife and I now call home. I welcome this initiative.

Princeton is a city on the move and my hope is that Mayor Brianna Chacon is right in believing that the city’s changing demographics, with forward-thinking new residents populating the city, will turn the tide in favor of the city being able to determine its destiny with a charter of its very own.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

local news

Neighboring cities take different paths toward same goal

Princeton and Farmersville happen to be two rapidly growing cities in Collin County, Texas.

Officials in both cities want the same thing at the moment. They want voters to approve measures to create home-rule charters in cities that are currently governed  under “general law” established by the Texas Legislature.

Both cities, though, are taking different paths toward the same goal.

Let’s look first at Princeton, where my and I live with our pooch, Toby the Puppy.

Princeton is going to conduct an election in November to establish a citizens committee that will draft a home-rule charter. The city will ask voters for permission to proceed. If voters say “yes,” the city will seat the committee and ask it to deliver a draft charter. The city isn’t waiting, however, for election results. They had a meeting this past week at City Hall to solicit members to join the committee.

If voters reject the committee idea, the plan stops. It’s dead. Gone. There will be no charter election next May.

Princeton’s growth has been staggering. Its 2010 census figure of 6,807 residents grew to more than 17,000 in 2020. State law says cities need a minimum of 5,000 inhabitants to call for an election. Princeton has had four tries already at approving a home-rule charter, but each one has failed.

Farmersville — about seven miles down the highway — has fewer people living there than Princeton. Its population stands at around 5,100. Farmersville already has a draft charter that was cobbled together by a committee. It is ready for public review.

Farmersville will not have an election asking permission from residents to form a committee. It has called for a May 2022 election to decide whether to proceed with a home-rule charter.

Both elections very well could signal the extent to which both cities have changed in recent years as new residents have flocked to their communities. Farmersville has built a remarkable community character already. It has a charming downtown square that is home to lively celebrations annually; most recently, Old Time Saturday revived itself there after being shelved for a year by the COVID pandemic.

Princeton’s community character is still a work in progress. It has no downtown district worth mentioning. However, the city is building a marvelous new municipal government complex just east of Princeton High School on U.S. 380 that city leaders hope will blossom into a thriving center for community activity built around green space and commercial development planned nearby.

Here is to the future of both communities. May the voters in two thriving Collin County cities make the correct decisions on where the want their cities to go.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

local news

It’s all about the turnout

Allow me this brief moment to express my frustration over what I expect will occur in early November.

My neighbors and I are going to vote for Princeton City Council members, for Princeton Independent School District trustees and for a special municipal referendum calling for the formation of a home-rule charter committee.

The frustration, which I expect fully to experience, will be in the abysmal voter turnout.

Mayor Brianna Chacon, who is running for re-election to a full term, is urging us to vote. She laments the historically low turnout for these municipal elections. It well might fall into the single-digit percentage of eligible voters who actually cast ballots on Nov. 2. That stinks to high heaven, man!

How many times must I say the same thing? Which is that local elections bring the most tangible impact on us as voters. We don’t care! Or so the dismal turnouts would suggest. City Councils set our tax policy; they determine the level of police and fire protection we receive; they set policy for trash pickup; they spend money to repair our streets.

The home-rule charter committee decision has me particularly juiced up. Princeton’s population exploded between the 2010 and 2020 census; we now are home to more than 18,000 inhabitants. Texas law grants cities with populations of 5,000 or greater the right to seek home-rule charter governance; Princeton currently is governed as a “general law” city, adhering to laws written by the Legislature.

We gotta change that, folks!

I don’t want to see a miserable voter turnout make that decision. We need to have everyone casting ballots who is eligible to do so.

Are we clear? Good! See you at the polls!

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com