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HomeMy WebLinkAboutR24-628443 1 RESOLUTION NO R24-628 A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PLAINVIEW, HALE COUNTY, TEXAS PROVIDING FOR A JOINT ELECTION AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE CITY OF PLAINVIEW AND PLAINVIEW INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT; DESIGNATING THE MAYOR TO SIGN ON BEHALF OF THE COUNCIL SUCH AGREEMENT BETWEEN BOTH GOVERNMENTAL ENTITIES STATED HEREIN. WHEREAS, the City of Plainview and Plainview Independent School District are each required to conduct elections on May 4, 2024; WHEREAS, Section 271.002 of the Texas Election Code provides for joint elections when an election is required upon the same day by two or more political subdivisions occupying all or part of the same territory; and WHEREAS, Section 11.0581 of the Texas Education Code requires the District's election to be held on the same day as a municipality in the school district; and WHEREAS it is deemed to be in the best interest of the citizens residing in each of the political subdivisions to have a joint election on May 4, 2024, for the District's general trustee election and for the City's election of mayor and council members, and any future elections during the 2024 calendar year, pursuant to the above cited provision of the Election Code; and WHEREAS, a joint election of the political subdivisions to be held on May 4, 2024, under provisions of the Texas Election Code and other applicable laws and in accordance with the following agreed terms: 1. THAT common precinct boundaries and voting places shall be designated by each governing body so far as is practical and expedient. 2. THAT each party shall be responsible for posting and publishing its own notices. Each political subdivision also shall be responsible for preparing the ballot for its own election and for conducting a "drawing for place on the ballot," for its own election at a location and time of its own choice. 3. THAT the official canvassing of ballots and announcements of results shall be done individually by each governing body, and each political subdivision shall issue its own certificates of election to the candidates elected to that political subdivision. 4. THAT each entity shall equally share the costs attributable to the joint election activities necessary for the conduct of the joint election. Resolution R24-628 Page 1 of 2 NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PLAINVIEW AND THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF PLAINVIEW INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT: THAT the City Council of the City of Plainview, Texas, hereby authorizes and directs the Mayor of the City of Plainview to execute the attached Joint Election Agreement with Plainview Independent School District for the May 4, 2024, City of Plainview General Election and to make any necessary changes to the Election Order, exhibits or otherwise to take any actions as may be necessary to carry out the purpose of this Resolution and the terms of the Agreement. In the event of a conflict between this Resolution and the attached Agreement, then the Agreement shall prevail; and THAT the Board of Trustees of Plainview Independent School District hereby authorizes and directs the President of the Board of Trustees of Plainview Independent School District to execute the attached Joint Election Agreement with the City of Plainview for the May 4, 2024, General Election and further authorizes the Superintendent to make any necessary changes to the Election Order, exhibits or otherwise to take any actions as may be necessary to carry out the purpose of this Resolution and the terms of the Agreement. In the event of a conflict between this Resolution and the attached Agreement, then the Agreement shall prevail.; and THAT the said Joint Election Agreement shall be deemed an agreement authorized by this Resolution with those governmental units within the City of Plainview that are conducting an election on May 4, 2024, and that desire and are eligible to conduct a joint election with the City of Plainview on May 4, 2024; and THAT the parties are hereby authorized and directed to make any necessary changes to the Election Order exhibits or otherwise to take such actions as may be necessary to carry out the purposes of this Resolution. PASSED and APPROVED this 26th day of March, 2024. Charles Starn s, Mayor ATTEST: /44�� LOLZ Belinda Hinojosa, Ci ecretary 1 Resolution R24-628 Page 2 of 2 445 THE STATE OF TEXAS § COUNTY OF HALE § JOINT ELECTION AGREEMENT BETWEEN CITY OF PLAINVIEW, TEXAS AND PLAINVIEW INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT This Agreement is made by and between the City of Plainview, Texas, hereinafter referred to as the "City," a Texas municipality; and Plainview Independent School District, a political subdivision organized under the school laws of the State of Texas, hereinafter referred to as the "District," by the authority of Sections 31.091 et seq. and 271.002 of the Texas Election Code, for the conduct and supervision of the City's election for city council members and the District's election for its trustees. RECITALS The Texas Education Code § 11.0581 requires the District to conduct a joint election to be held either on the same date as the municipality's election or the general election. The District is holding an election for the purpose of electing trustees of the District on May 4, 2024. The City is holding an election for the purpose of electing City officials on May 4, 2024. Therefore, the District desires to hold its election with the City. The election precincts of the District, which lie within the jurisdictional limits of the City of Plainview, have been established and may be re-established by the District as its election precincts pursuant to Section 42.061 of the Texas Election Code. Hale County will make available to the City and the District a direct recording electronic voting system (with a sufficient number of boxes or machines) which has been duly approved by the Secretary of State pursuant to Texas Election Code Chapter 122 as amended, and both the City and the District desire to use the County's electronic voting system in its election. NOW THEREFORE, in consideration of the mutual covenants, agreements, and benefits to the parties, IT IS AGREED as follows: I. ADMINISTRATION The District and the City will each share an Elections Administrator who shall coordinate and supervise all aspects of administering the election as provided in this Contract. The Elections Administrator shall serve as the Administrator for the election. The City and District each appoint the City Secretary as Election Administrator for the May 4, 2024 election. H. LEGAL DOCUMENTS AND NOTICES The City and the District shall each be responsible for the preparation, adoption, and publication of all respective required election orders, resolutions, notices, and any other pertinent documents required by the Texas Election Code and/or its governing bodies. Preparation of the necessary bilingual materials for notices and the language of the official ballot shall also be the respective responsibility of each party. Each party shall timely provide a copy of its Election Order and Notice to the Elections Administrator. Each entity shall be responsible for assuring that its respective ballots are printed in a timely fashion in order to be available for Early Voting by Personal Appearance and by Mail. III. VOTING LOCATIONS It is agreed that election day voting shall be held at the locations shown in the respective Election Orders and Notices duly adopted by the District and City. IV. ELECTION JUDGES, CLERKS, AND OTHER ELECTION PERSONNEL The City and the District will equally share the costs of election judges and alternate election judges for the elections. For purposes of conducting this Joint Election, all election judges, clerks, and other election personnel shall be under the control and direction of the Elections Administrator. It is agreed by the City and District that, at all times and for all purposes hereunder, on Election Day, all election judges, clerks, and all other employees involved in this election are independent contractors and are not employees of the District or City. No statement contained in this Contract shall be construed so as to find any judge, clerk, or any other election personnel an employee of the City or District, and all election personnel shall be entitled to none of the rights, privileges, or benefits of the District or City employees except as otherwise may be stated herein, nor shall any election personnel hold him/herself out as an employee of the District or City by virtue of being an election judge, clerk, or other election personnel. V. SUPPLIES AND PRINTING Each entity shall arrange for its own election supplies and printing of election documents. VI. EARLY VOTING (a) By mail: The Election Administrator shall receive and process requests for Early Voting by mail and receive ballots by mail, such to be secured and counted in accordance with law. (b) In Person: The Election Administrator shall appoint an Early Voting Clerk and any needed deputies, as recruited and selected by the District in accordance with Section 31.097 of the Texas Election Code. Each party further agrees to designate City Hall, City of Plainview, 202 W. 5t' St., Plainview Texas, as the main early voting location for the District and the City. It is agreed that early voting by personal appearance will be held for seven (7) days and the Elections Administrator shall be responsible for receiving and tabulating the early voted ballots by mail and in person for the respective entities. 2 !1VA VII. ELECTION EXPENSE AND ALLOCATION OF COSTS (a) All joint election expenses shall be divided equally between the District and City. The City shall initially pay the expenses, and subsequently invoice each participating entity for its share of the expenses. Joint election expenses include, but are not limited to, expenses for facilities, election administrator, and other personnel, supplies, and training actually incurred by the City for establishing and operating Election Day activities at the polling place in the Joint Election territory as well as activities related to the tabulation of votes. An invoiced party shall pay the total amount of the invoice within thirty (30) days of receipt of said invoice. (b) In the event of a recount or election contest, the expense of that activity shall be borne by the entity involved in such recount or contest. The expense of any early voting polling places that are established at the request of an entity other than those which are mutually agreed upon by all the entities shall be borne by the requesting entity. VIII. EXCUSAL FROM CONTRACT DUE TO CANCELLATION OF ELECTION Either party may cancel its election as permitted by Texas Election Code § 2.051. In the event of cancellation, the canceling party is relieved from its Joint Election obligations under this Agreement, except for any costs already incurred at time of cancellation. IX. RECORDS OF THE ELECTION The Elections Administrator is hereby appointed general custodian of the voted ballots and records of the election as authorized by Section 36.096 of the Texas Election Code for the parties. Access to the election records shall be available to the District and to the City as well as to the public in accordance with applicable provisions of the Texas Election Code and the Texas Public Information Act. The election records shall be stored at the offices of the Elections Administrator, who shall ensure that the records are maintained in an orderly manner so that the records are clearly identifiable and retrievable. Records of the election shall be retained and disposed of in accordance with the provisions of Section 66.058 of the Texas Election Code. If records of the election are involved in any pending election contest, investigation, litigation, or open records request, the Elections Administrator shall maintain the records until final resolution or until final judgment, whichever is applicable. It is the responsibility of each party to bring to the attention of the Elections Administrator of the other party any notice of pending election contest, investigation, litigation, or open records request which may be filed with either party. The Elections Administrator shall notify the District and the City of the planned destruction of any records of the election prior to the destruction of the records. X. SPECIAL ELECTIONS It is agreed that this contract shall include any special election(s) to be called by either party if the other party is also holding an election. XI. RECOUNTS A recount may be obtained, as provided by Title 13 of the Texas Election Code. Each party agrees that any recount shall take place at the offices of the Elections Administrator, and that the Elections Administrator shall serve as Recount Supervisor and the official of that party performing the duties of a secretary under the Texas Election Code or its lawful designee shall serve as Recount Coordinator. The entity conducting a recount of its election shall be solely responsible for the costs associated with that recount. XII. CANVASS OF RESULTS The City will be responsible for the canvass of the returns regarding its ballot items. The District will be responsible for the canvass of the returns on its ballot items. XHI AUTHORITY TO CONFORM TO ELECTION LAW The City authorizes the City Manager and the District authorizes the Superintendent to cooperate by varying the detailed terms of this Agreement to the extent as may be necessary, and upon advice of legal counsel, in order to better conform the Joint Election to applicable law without further action by the governing body of the District or City. XIV. MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS (1) An executed copy of this Agreement shall be preserved by each party for the period for preserving the precinct election records, as required by the Texas Elections Code §271.002(c). (2) The City and the District agree that under the Constitution and laws of the State of Texas, neither the City nor the District can enter into an agreement whereby either party agrees to indemnify or hold harmless another party; therefore, all references of any kind, if any, to indemnifying or holding or saving harmless for any reason are hereby deleted. (3) This Contract shall be construed under and in accordance with the laws of the State of Texas, and all obligations of the parties created hereunder are performable in Plainview, Texas. (4) In the event one or more of the provisions contained in this Contract shall for any reason be held to be invalid, illegal, unenforceable in any respect, such invalidity, illegality, or unenforceability shall not affect any other provision hereof and this Contract shall be construed as if such invalid, illegal, or unenforceable provisions had never been contained herein. (5) All parties shall comply with all applicable Federal, State, and Local laws, ordinances and codes.. (6) The waiver by any party of a breach of any provision of this Contract shall not operate as or be construed as a waiver of any subsequent breach. In 1 (7) Any amendment of this Contract shall be of no effect unless in writing and signed by all parties hereto. IN TESTIMONY HEREOF, this Contract, its multiple originals all of equal force, has been executed on behalf of the parties hereto as follows, to -wit: (1) It has on the 26`h day of March, 2024, been executed on behalf of the City of Plainview by its Mayor pursuant to its City Council, so authorizing; (2) It has on the day of February, 2024, been executed on behalf of the District by its President of the Board of Trustees, pursuant to the authority of the Board of Trustees, so authorizing; PLAINVIEW INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT I0 President, Board of Trustees CITY OFXFLAINVWANY9 TEXAS By: )OAT Charles "ams, Mayor 5