Residents to get chance to speak out on election propositions

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HARLINGEN — Residents are getting a chance to speak out on a committee’s proposals for amendments to the City Charter, including paying the mayor and commissioners compensation for their time of service while also proposing giving them access to the city’s health insurance.

On Thursday, city officials are planning to hold a public hearing giving residents a chance to speak up before commissioners select propositions to tack onto November’s election ballot.

“Ultimately, it’s the people who are going to decide,” Commissioner Rene Perez, the city’s mayor pro tem, said Wednesday. “They’re going to decide on the ballot.”

After months of debate, the six-member Charter Review Committee, appointed by commissioners, proposed amendments including paying the mayor $25,000 and commissioners $15,000 for service while also giving them the option to pay into the city’s health insurance plan.

Among the recommendations, the committee also proposed boosting the mayor’s and commissioners’ terms in office from three to four years, part of a plan to draw more voters to the polls.

The committee also proposed giving the mayor a vote on the commission. Now, Harlingen stands as the only Rio Grande Valley city in which the mayor doesn’t get a vote, officials said.

After weeks of review, the committee is proposing more than 20 amendments, many aimed at bringing the decades-old charter to date.

Harlingen’s charter dates back to 1927, to an era when when city officials regulated velocipedes, the bicycles featuring big front wheels that rode the streets, Perez said.

In 2022, voters approved three amendments to the charter, while the city’s last review was held in 2006.

“We’re updating the charter,” Perez said. “It’s a new generation of leaders taking over. We’re trying to change it to give it a modern perspective.”

As they head into Thursday’s meeting, commissioners appear split over the Charter Review Committee’s recommendation for an amendment which would allow the city to pay the mayor $25,000 a year and commissioners $15,000 to help compensate them for time devoted to service.

For some on the commission, city business eats into their businesses, officials said.

Across the country, they said, many cities are paying their elected officials as compensation.

Among the Charter Review Committee’s recommendations is a proposal that would give the mayor and commissioners access to the city’s health insurance plan.

Under the proposal, they would pay for their coverage, officials said.

“They would be the same as any other city employee,” Perez said.

The committee is also proposing boosting the mayor’s and commissioners’ terms from three to four years to allow officials to align city elections with presidential elections to help draw more voters to the polls.

As part of its recommendations, the committee is also proposing giving the mayor a vote on the commission.

Now, the mayor’s position stands as the city’s only at-large post, while each commissioners represents one of five single-member districts.

The measure’s proponents argue giving the mayor a vote would help make the mayor more accountable to residents while offering insight into the mayor’s stance on issues.

Two years ago, the city’s past commission called for amendments to the City Charter.

In a 2022 special election, residents overwhelmingly voted in favor of an amendment limiting the mayor’s and commissioners’ tenures to four, three-year terms while also pushing the city’s May elections to November, beginning this year.

As part of a third proposition, residents overwhelmingly voted in favor of an amendment creating a seven-member airport board, allowing each commissioner to make an appointment to the board while the mayor appoints two members.

Since 2006, the charter had given the mayor sole power to appoint members to the prominent board, which had been made up of nine members.