Council members
7, elected at large by place
The basics
Your council, by the charter
Term length
3 years
Pay
None — it's in the charter
Regular meeting
1st Tuesday, 7 p.m., City Hall
"…all powers of the city shall be vested in a council of seven (7) members, elected from the city at large, by place, in the manner hereafter provided, who shall serve without compensation."
"At large, by place" means candidates file for a numbered seat — Place 1 through Place 7 — but every voter in the city votes in every race. Each council member answers to the whole city, not a district. Candidates must have lived in Sulphur Springs for at least a year and have their city taxes paid current. Elections are held in May, and winning takes a true majority — if no candidate gets over half the votes, there's a runoff. (Secs. 2, 8)
If a seat becomes vacant mid-term, how it gets filled depends on how much of the term remains — a rule set not by the charter but by the Texas Constitution (Art. XI, Sec. 11), which governs cities whose council terms run longer than two years. If more than twelve months remains in the term, appointment isn't an option: the city must hold a special election within 120 days of the seat becoming vacant, and the voters fill it directly. Only when twelve months or less remains may the seat be filled the way the charter provides — the remaining council members appoint a qualified resident, who serves until the next regularly scheduled city election. (Charter Sec. 2; Tex. Const. art. XI, § 11)
Heard around town
"Council members are in it for the paycheck."
What the charter says
There is no paycheck. The charter requires council members to serve without compensation — and they pay the same city taxes and utility rates they vote on, for their own homes and businesses. (Sec. 2)
Who does what
Three roles, deliberately separated
Elected by you
City Council
Sets policy as a body: adopts the budget, sets the tax rate, passes ordinances, approves zoning, and hires the city manager. No single member — including the mayor — holds power alone; it takes a majority vote at a public meeting. (Secs. 2, 6)
Chosen by the council
Mayor
The council chooses one of its own members as mayor at its first meeting in June. The mayor presides over meetings and represents the city — with the same single vote as every other member. The council also selects a mayor pro tem. (Sec. 4)
Hired professional
City Manager
The council employs a city manager as the city's chief executive. The manager supervises departments, sees that ordinances are enforced, prepares the annual budget, and attends council meetings with the right to discuss and the duty to advise — but not vote. (Secs. 9, 11)
"Except for the purpose of inquiry the council and its members shall deal with the administrative service solely through the city manager. They shall not in any manner take part in the appointment or removal of any person subordinate to the city manager, nor shall they give any instructions to any subordinate of the city manager, except through the city manager."
Heard around town
"A council member can get a street fixed or a city employee fired with a phone call."
What the charter says
The charter flatly forbids it. Council members cannot direct city employees, and hiring and firing belongs to the city manager — with one exception: the manager's appointment or removal of a department head is subject to the council's approval, which the council ratifies as a body in a public vote. Everyone else in the administrative service answers to the manager alone. This wall exists on purpose: it keeps city services professional and shields employees from political pressure. If I want something done, I have the same path you do — through the city manager — plus a vote at a posted public meeting. (Sec. 10)
The paper trail
How an idea becomes an ordinance
An ordinance is a city law. Our charter builds the process around publication and patience — by design, it is hard to pass one quickly or quietly.
It's drafted and introduced in writing
Every ordinance must be confined to one subject, clearly expressed in its title, and introduced to the council in written or printed form. (Sec. 7)
It's posted online at least 14 days before final passage
All proposed ordinances must be published on the city's official website at least 14 days before the council considers them for final passage. You get two weeks' notice, with the full text, before a final vote can happen. (Sec. 7)
It's considered at two separate public meetings
An ordinance can't be adopted until the council has considered it and acted favorably at two separate council meetings. An ordinance passed on first reading stays published on the city website continuously until it's accepted or rejected. A resolution is different: it expresses the council's position or direction without enacting a city law, so it takes only a single meeting and a single vote. (Sec. 7)
A majority votes in public
Adopting any ordinance or resolution takes the affirmative vote of a majority of the council, in open session, recorded in the minutes. (Sec. 6)
It's published and codified
Ordinances passed on second reading are published on the official city website, numbered, and added to the City Code of Ordinances — which anyone can read. (Secs. 7, 40)
The charter allows only two narrow exceptions to the two-meeting rule: ordinances calling or canvassing an election, and ordinances where the council formally finds an emergency exists because of an immediate need to protect the peace, health, safety, or welfare of the community. (Sec. 7)
Heard around town
"The council rams things through before anyone knows what's happening."
What the charter says
Structurally, it can't. Fourteen days of website publication, two separate public meetings, and a majority vote in open session — that's the minimum path for an ordinance, on top of the Texas Open Meetings Act's requirement that the agenda for every meeting be posted at least three business days in advance — not counting weekends or holidays. Slowness is a feature of the system, not a bug.
Your standing invitation
Every meeting is your meeting
"All meetings of the council and committees thereof shall be open to the public. Any inhabitants of the city shall have a reasonable opportunity to be heard at any meetings of the council on any matter."
That's not a courtesy — it's a charter right. The council meets in regular session at City Hall at 7:00 p.m. on the first Tuesday of each month, and newly elected members take office at the first regular meeting in June. Executive (closed) sessions are allowed only after the public has had a reasonable time to be heard on the matter, and only as state law permits. (Sec. 3)
The charter also gives voters a tool stronger than any public comment: upon a petition of 30% of qualified voters, a recall election must be held for any council member who has served at least six months. The council answers to the voters not just every three years, but continuously.
- The budget is built in public, tooThe city manager must submit a tentative budget at a regular September council meeting, with detailed proposed expenditures and anticipated income — plus the current year's actuals and the city's debt in detail. The fiscal year runs October 1 through September 30. (Secs. 15, 16) This is also an area heavily governed by state law, which lays down a specific calendar and process the city must follow — published notices, taxpayer impact statements, public hearings on the budget and the tax rate, and deadlines that march from summer to adoption each fall.
- The books are audited every yearThe charter requires an annual independent audit of city finances. (Sec. 27)
- The records are yoursMinutes, ordinances, budgets, and audits are public records, available through the City Secretary and the city website.