Edinburg City Council votes to change charter

Election set on amendment to suspend future officials who face felony indictment

Fernanda Figueroa | THE RIDER

The Edinburg City Council voted 3-2 Tuesday to pass an amendment to the city’s charter that would allow the automatic suspension of an elected official upon a felony indictment and authorized an election in November 2021 in which voters will consider the proposal. 

Councilmember Gilbert Enriquez requested that the proposed amendment be on the agenda.

“I think it is only logical. This office, the positions that we hold, has a certain authority and a certain credibility and it behooves every single elected official to honor that,” Enriquez said. “There has to be some kind of accountability.”

Currently, the charter states that if the mayor or any councilmember is convicted of a felony while in office, then they must forfeit and vacate their office. There are no guidelines for the forfeiture, removal or suspension upon a felony indictment.

“I am not against [the amendment], I’ll tell you right now,” Councilmember David White said. “We should be held to a higher standard than our employees. In the police, fire department you pick up some type of arrest, you don’t have to be fully indicted, you will be separated. You’ll be suspended from your job without pay, pending the outcome of the crime you have been accused of. So, I don’t think we should be held to any lesser standard than what we expect our employees to stand by.”

For the amendment to become effective, Edinburg voters must approve the charter amendment through an election. 

The council will continue to look at the city charter till the election for any other possible amendments.

“We do plan to look at the charter as a whole, and to see if there is any other items that need to be addressed between here and the election so that they have an opportunity to vote,” Councilmember Johnny Garcia said.

In other business, the council unanimously voted to cancel the Nov. 3 general meeting.

“We assessed last week and this week, and there are no time-sensitive items,” City Manager Ron Garza said. “The council should choose to eliminate the Nov. 3 meeting. The council meeting scheduled for Nov. 17 would meet our requirement of having one meeting a month; however, whatever the will of the council is.”