Magnolia City Council received an anonymous notice last week sharing a sample of three propositions that the sender aims to place on the May ballot. The notice threatened that a “petition would be brought before the voters if City Council does not stop wasting city tax dollars.”

The document asks for citizens to decide whether they are for or against three items.

The first item concerns city-owned vehicles such as, police cars and the public works vehicle.

“Shall the City of Magnolia continue to use city-owned vehicles as take home vehicles by employees if they live outside the city limits, except for the Public Works Director who responds to after hours emergencies.”

Mayor Todd Kana said he agrees that city vehicles should stay at city hall with the exception of the police chief’s.

He stated that because Magnolia Police Officers live close to the city limits, it is beneficial for the officers to have the vehicles at home in case of an emergency causing them to come to work.

“I do prefer them (vehicles) to stay at city hall if they (the officers) live far away,” Kana said.

The second item concerns officers operating outside of the city limits and jurisdiction.

“Shall the City of Magnolia continue to allow the Police Officers and vehicles to respond outside the corporate limits of the City of Magnolia to assist the Sheriff’s Department, except for life and death situations when asked to assist the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Department.”

Kana also agreed that officers should not leave the city limits unless there is an emergency and another officer, such as the Sheriff’s Department, needs assistance.

The final item on the document suggests an amendment to be made regarding the use of tax dollars to pay for health insurance for elected officials.

“Shall the City of Magnolia not allow the elected officials to receive health insurance paid with tax dollars, except if the elected official pays for his or her own health insurance.”

Kana addressed legal issues with the sample petition. Each sample petition states “an amendment to the City Charter,” and Kana explained that Magnolia does not have a charter because it is not operated under Home Rural Law. Magnolia currently operates under General Law.

The document stated “getting a petition is easy to place the propositions on the ballot for the May elections.”

Kana explained that past petitions have circulated and met requirements to appear on the ballot but were removed because they had no legal relevance.

City Administrator Paul Mendes said the items submitted are issues that should be handled by the City Council.

“If folks want something on the ballot that is their prerogative,” Mendes said. “Some things need to be worked out between the city and departments.”

According to Mendes, the issues presented are not to be voted on.

“Voters should have confidence in the city to make the right decision on the information that they have,” he said. “If this is something enough residents are concerned about then council needs to look into it.”

City Secretary Lynne George expressed that those concerned should address City Council.

“This (the issues) are totally operational and has nothing to do with the voters,” she said.

Kana stated that until the petition is official the city’s attorney will not regard the anonymous notice.

According to the Texas Election Code, in order for a petition to be placed as a proposition on the ballot in May, the petition requires ten signatures from registered voters who voted in the last gubernatorial election.

Once the petition is filed with ten signatures, the county clerk issues an official petition. From that point, 35 percent of the city’s registered voters who voted in the last gubernatorial election must sign the petition.

The anonymous sample ballot measures signed “concerned citizens of Magnolia” is currently unofficial.

For more information about the City of Magnolia, visit www.cityofmagnolia.com.

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