City-approved charter amendments propose college student eligibility for redistricting commission, governmental operation changes

College students may soon be eligible to join a commission that sets the city district maps as the Austin City Council voted on July 30 to approve eight charter amendments. 

These amendments, which will be voted on by residents in the November midterm election, also include proposed city-wide changes to government operations, meeting requirements and an efficiency audit.

The Council approved the amendments on Thursday after holding public hearings and voting individually on July 28 and July 30. The amendments will appear together as Propositions C through J on the Nov. 3 midterm election ballot.

The first proposed amendment would change rules for the Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission, which is responsible for drawing Austin City Council district maps. At the July 30 meeting, the Council updated the amendment to certify that college students can serve on the commission. The amendment defines the commission as independent from the Council’s influence while allowed to use city resources, and establishes when future maps take effect. The amendment also clarifies how commission vacancies are filled.

Commission eligibility was addressed after Jack Chrismon, an international relations and global studies senior, said during the July 28 meeting that the existing five-year voter-registration requirement for the commission’s student seat effectively prevents college students from joining the commission. 

“If we do the math, that means that zero 18 to 22 year old college students in the City of Austin can qualify, even if they’ve lived in the city their entire lives and are invested members of the community,” Chrismon said during the July 28 meeting. “The effect is that more than 44,000 students at UT Austin, plus tens of thousands more at ACC, Saint Edward’s, Huston-Tillotson and Concordia are shut out of a seat on a commission designated for them that determines who represents them.” 

The revised amendment will remove the requirement barrier for the commission’s student seat, allowing traditional college-aged students to qualify, as long as they are enrolled in college, live in Austin and are registered to vote there.

The second amendment removes the charter requirement that the Council meets at least once each week, allowing the Council to more freely set its meeting schedule. The third removes the requirement for the Council to establish its rules and orders of business through an ordinance, meaning they could instead be set internally by the Council. 

Betsy Greenberg, a former city Ethics Review Commission member who opposed the amendment, said during the July 28 meeting the change could reduce public input.

“If you’re going to change meeting rules, the least you can do is inform the public and pretend to listen to the public’s opinion about these changes,” Greenberg said.

The fourth clarifies the meaning of  “election” in the charter. It also changes when campaign contribution and expenditure limits are updated from when the city adopts its annual budget to Jan. 1 of each year. The fifth amendment requires citizen-initiated elections and charter amendments to be held on the next available November election date in an even-numbered year. 

Robin Schneider, a District 3 resident who opposed the change, said delaying citizen initiatives could prevent voters from acting on issues they consider urgent. 

“Accountability delayed can be accountability denied,” Schneider said during the July 30 meeting. 

The sixth amendment gives the Council, instead of the city manager, the authority to appoint and remove the city attorney. The seventh makes technical changes to the charter by correcting grammatical errors and removing ineffective language that has been superseded by state law or a court order. 

The eighth amendment, which came from a certified citizen petition, would require an independent affordability and efficiency initiative before any city tax rate increase and use an independent contractor to identify annual and multiyear savings.

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