Charter Committee Continues Work Amid Disputed Claims by Council Member
By Greg Ritchie
Messenger Reporter
CROCKETT – The City of Crockett’s Charter Revision Committee continues its work to modernize the city’s decades-old governing document, but questions remain about whether the process will be completed in time for the May election — an effort possibly complicated by recent statements from a city council member that they describe as factually inaccurate and disruptive to an otherwise non-controversial review.
During the Crockett City Council meeting Monday, Jan. 5, Precinct Three Councilwoman NaTrenia Hicks raised a series of concerns about the charter currently under revision, alleging the existence of “conflicting charters,” questioning whether the document under review was ever approved by voters, and asserting that proposed changes would weaken representation and remove checks and balances in city government. City officials and the chairman of the Charter Revision Committee say those claims are incorrect and risk confusing the public about a process that has been underway for more than a year.
Charter review nearing completion
After months of detailed review, the Charter Revision Committee is approaching the end of its work to update a charter Chairman Jim Turner says has not been substantially amended since it was adopted by voters in April 1964.
“The primary purpose of the whole process has been to update the charter and eliminate sections that are no longer relevant, and to be sure it complies with state law,” Turner said. “Basically, we want a charter that will last for a number of years in the future without having to worry about amending it again.”
Turner said Crockett’s current charter contains provisions that no longer align with modern Texas law, which has changed significantly over the last six decades.
“The Legislature has passed a lot of restrictions on local governments that didn’t exist 10, 20 or 30 years ago,” he said. “That’s created some inconsistencies between state law and what’s in a lot of city charters across Texas. Our work has really been about resolving those conflicts.”
Each member of the city council appointed two residents to the committee, which has worked with an attorney experienced in municipal charters to ensure accuracy and legal compliance at every step. Turner said most decisions have been unanimous and intentionally focused on avoiding controversy.
“We’ve tried to stay away from controversial matters and pretty well keep the same form of city government in place that we’ve always had,” he said. “I’d describe it as cleaning up the charter and bringing it into the 2000s.”
Hicks questions charter’s legitimacy
At the Jan. 5 meeting, Hicks told the council and audience she believed the Charter Revision Committee was working from a document that had never been approved by voters.
“Just kind of wanting to let everyone know that we do have conflicting charters here in the city of Crockett,” Hicks said. “The current charter that I believe the Charter Committee is working on has not been approved or filed with the Secretary of State.”
She said she believed the committee was using a version of the charter “reprinted in February of 1997,” adding that “that charter was never approved by the voters.”
“I don’t know how it actually got modified,” Hicks said. “From my request, there has not been any additional documentation or available documents to prove that the 1997 charter is legitimate or was duly constituted or approved by the voters. My question, again, is which charter is the community working from, trying to amend?”
Hicks also asserted that proposed revisions would fundamentally alter Crockett’s form of government and weaken the authority of elected council members.
“In my opinion, a lot of the revisions — one of them is where the intent of the actions are to restructure or change our local government to weaken the voices of the people and to strip decision making and the power from council members and give it to the mayor and the city manager,” she said.
She described the proposals as “taxation without representation” and warned that the charter would “leave a door open to fostering corruption, financial debt, leaving the citizens unprotected,” while removing accountability for the mayor and city manager.
City disputes claims, cites documentation
In a written response following the meeting, Assistant City Administrator John Angerstein said Hicks’ statements included “factual inaccuracies and personal opinions presented as fact.”
“The City of Crockett operates under a single, duly adopted Home Rule Charter,” Angerstein said. “The claim that the City is operating under ‘conflicting charters’ is false.”
Angerstein said the charter currently in effect was adopted by Crockett voters and that all amendments have been voter-approved. He explained that while paper copies of the charter were printed in 1997, that action did not create a new charter or alter the voter-approved document.
“Printing and codifications are administrative actions and do not invalidate or replace a voter-approved charter,” he said. “There is no legal ambiguity regarding which charter governs the City.”
Angerstein also rejected claims that the proposed revisions would strip authority from the city council or eliminate accountability.
“Assertions that proposed revisions would strip council authority, eliminate representation, or transfer unchecked power to the Mayor or City Manager are opinions, not facts,” he said, noting that under Texas law the city council remains the governing body with authority over taxation, budgeting, ordinances and policy.
“No Charter provision removes required checks and balances,” Angerstein said.
Committee chair addresses confusion
Turner said he reviewed the concerns raised by Hicks regarding the 1997 reprint and found no evidence that the charter was altered or improperly adopted.
“As best I can determine, the city charter was not changed in 1997,” Turner said. “It was merely printed in a new document so people could have access to it. On the face of the document, it says, ‘Crockett City Charter, Reprinted 1997.’”
“That’s the original one from 1964,” he said. “That’s one of the reasons city council decided to address our city charter. It hasn’t been amended for 60-plus years, and it’s just, in many ways, out of date and inconsistent with state law.”
Turner also said there have been no proposals to alter Crockett’s form of government.
“There’s been no changes in the form of city government in this charter revision,” he said. “We have and will continue to have what is commonly referred to as a council, weak mayor, city manager form of government.”
“To suggest that the mayor is somehow strengthened and given more power, or that the city manager is given more power, is completely contrary to what the charter proposal is,” Turner added.
Focus on strengthening safeguards
Turner said the committee has focused on strengthening, not weakening, accountability provisions.
“The only interest that the charter commission has had is to strengthen provisions against corruption,” he said, citing proposed language granting the city council investigative authority, prohibiting gifts from city contractors, and strengthening conflict-of-interest rules.
“I see nothing that the charter commission has proposed that would weaken any of the corruption prohibitions that are in our city charter today,” Turner said.
Timeline and internal tensions
Turner said the committee is still on track to submit its recommendations to the city council, which would then hold public hearings before deciding whether to place the proposed amendments on the May ballot.
“We are on track to be able to do that,” he said. “I’m hopeful that we can accomplish that because this is a project we’ve been working on for over a year.”
Whether that timeline holds remains uncertain. Under state law, proposed charter changes must be grouped by subject, meaning voters would see multiple ballot propositions rather than a single up-or-down vote.
Sources familiar with the Charter Revision Committee’s work told The Messenger that while each council member appointed two residents to serve on the panel, Hicks is the only council member who has regularly attended committee meetings and spoken at length during deliberations.
Those sources said her continued presence has caused frustration among some committee members, who believe the group would progress more efficiently if allowed to complete its work independently before presenting final recommendations to the city council for approval.
According to those sources, some members feel the council’s role is to evaluate and vote on the committee’s proposals once completed, and that ongoing debate during the drafting phase has slowed progress as the committee works toward a potential May election deadline.
Turner said the committee’s goal remains unchanged.
“What we’re hoping for is a set of recommendations that will be wholly acceptable to the voters,” he said. “Our effort from the beginning has been to make sure this process is noncontroversial and transparent — and that Crockett ends up with a charter that works for everyone.”
Greg Ritchie can be reached at [email protected]
