ELECTION 2025: CITY OF BRENHAM CHARTER AMENDMENTS

  

Alongside the Brenham City Council races, voters in the City of Brenham can participate in a special charter amendment election.

The city has 12 propositions to consider for amending the city’s home rule charter, which establishes the city’s power and form of government, creates its governmental structure, and provides for distribution of authority. 

The city’s last charter amendment election occurred in 2015, when voters approved all 24 propositions.  The city’s charter requires a review every five years, but the review in 2020 did not recommend any changes. 

City Secretary Jeana Bellinger categorizes the 12 propositions into four sections: clarifying wording, getting into compliance with state/federal law, administrative and procedural changes, and actual changes to the charter.

The four amendments that would be considered major are Proposition C, establishing term limits for the mayor and council of three, four-year terms; Proposition I, increasing the mayor’s monthly salary from $275 to $550 and councilmembers’ monthly salary from $225 to $450; Proposition J, which acts as a companion item to a different procedural change amendment, as it moves conflict of interest provisions from one section of the charter to another and revises wording to be consistent with state law; and Proposition L, allowing the city manager to reside in Washington County, not just inside the City of Brenham as is currently required.

For term limits, any full or partial terms served prior to this election, as well as any time served by appointment or by election to fill a vacancy, will not count toward the three-term limit.  A mayor or councilmember who hits the limit must wait one full year before being eligible to serve again; non-consecutive terms of office will not be limited.  In a situation where a sitting councilmember is elected as mayor, or if the sitting mayor chose to run for a council position, their term limit clock would start over.

On mayor and council pay, the city has not raised compensation for those positions since 1993.  Brenham Mayor Atwood Kenjura says the decision to propose a raise comes from wanting to attract a larger number of people who would be willing to serve on the council, given the time commitment necessary.

Kenjura says there have been statements claiming the city was not open with this charter amendment process, but he calls them “false and erroneous”, as public meetings on the subject date back to February 2024.

One proposition that has drawn some discussion is Proposition K, allowing the city manager, rather than the city council, to set and approve surety bonds for appointed officers and employees of the city.  City Manager Carolyn Miller says surety bonds act as an insurance policy for the city, protecting it financially in case of misconduct or failure to perform duties.  Currently, surety bonds exist for the mayor, city manager, city secretary, chief financial officer and city marshal. The surety bonds are not related to city certificates of obligation that are typically issued for large projects.

Bellinger says the amendment propositions were guided by conducting research of other cities’ charters and were vetted by the city attorney.

Early voting is open today (Tuesday) through April 29^th at the Washington County Courthouse Annex.  Election Day is May 3^rd.

More specific information on each of the proposed charter amendments can be found at www.cityofbrenham.org, with breakdowns of each individual proposition.