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November 6, 1990
Honorable George Pierce Opinion No.+Pl-1239
Chairman
Urban Affairs Committee Re: Authority of a home rule
Texas House of Representatives city to replace its appointed
P. 0. Box 2910 representative to the board
Austin, Texas 78768-2910 of directors of a special
district (RQ-2132)
Dear Representative Pierce:
You have requested our opinion regarding the authority
of the city of Garland to remove one of its appointed
representatives to the board of directors
_. of the North Texas
Municipal Water District.
The district was created in 1951 by special law: pacts
1951, 52d Leg., ch. 62, at 96. The district originally
contained ten member cities, but you indicate that it now
consists of eleven. Id. 5 2. Section 3(a) provides, "all
powers of the District shall be exercised by a board of
directors," whose members are "appointed by majority vote.of
the governing body of each of the cities contained in the
District. 111 Section 3(a) also declares, "each director
shall serve for his term of office as herein provided, and
thereafter until his successor shall be appointed and
qualified." Each director serves a two-year term. Id.
5 3(a).
Recently, the city council of Garland asked one of its
two representatives to resign. When he refused to do so,
the council purported to terminate his appointment and named
a successor to the position. The original representative,
however, continues to refuse to relinquish his position on
the board, and contends that~.Goethe
city council is without
authority to remov%him. The city argues that~its charter
furnishes the council with sufficient authority to remove
the director.
1. A city of. more than 5,000 population, like
Garland, is entitled to two members on the board of
directors.
p. 6591
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Honorable George Pierce - Page 2 (JR-1229)
Article IV of the charter of the city of Garland
provides, in part:
Sec. 1. Powers of the Council.
All powers of the City and the determination
of all matters of policy shall be vested in
the Council. Without limitation of the
special and general powers granted or
delegated to the City by the Constitution,
statutes or the Charter, the Council shall
have power to:
(A) Appoint the City Wanager, City Secretary
and City Attorney pursuant to terms and
conditions deemed appropriate by the
City Council. Appoint the City Judge for
a definite term not to exceed one (1)
year, provided no Councilmember shall
receive any such appointment during or
within one (1) year of the expiration of
the term for which he shall have been
elected:
(B) 'Establish other administrative
departments and distribute the work of
divisions:
. . . .
(F) Appoint the members of the Zoning Board
of Adjustment, City Plan Commission and
all other boards and commissions serving
the City;
. . . .
Sec. 2. Removal of appointive officials.
The Council may, upon the affirmative vote of
five (5) members, remove its appointive
officers without notice. A member of
board or commission shall not be remov"ei'
except for incompetency or misconduct i;
office.
Section 2 of article IV authorizes the council to
"remove its appointive officers without notice.w In our
opinion, the city#s representative on the board of directors
of the North Texas Municipal Water District is not the kind
p. 6592
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1
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Honorable George Pierce - Page 3 (J&1239)
of officer to which the charter refers. Section 1 of
article IV specifically refers only to officers of the g&y.
We believe it is clear that a member of the board of direc-
tors of the district is an officer of the astrict, who
happens merely to be m by the city council.
Even if we were to deem a member of the board of
directors an officer of the city, section 2 of article IV
provides that 'Iamember of any board or commission shall not
be removed, except for incompetency or misconduct in
office." The city council has not in this instance made any
finding of incompetency or misconduct in office: indeed, it
has not even made such an allegation. We must conclude
that, by the very terms of its charter, the city of Garland
has failed to take any action that would have the effect of
removing its representative on the district board of
directors.
SUMMARY
\ The city council of Garland, Texas, lacks
authority under its charter to remove its
appointive representatives on the board of
directors of the North Texas Municipal Water
District.
JIM MATTOX
Attorney General of Texas
MARY KELLER
First Assistant Attorney General
mu MCCREARY
Executive Assistant Attorney General
JUDGE ZOLLIE STEARLJIY
Special Assistant Attorney General
RENEA HICKS
Special Assistant Attorney General
RICK GILPIN
Chairman, Opinion Committee
Prepared by Rick Gilpin
Assistant Attorney General
p. 6593
Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion
Combined Opinion