Ord 2020-017/repealing Ordinance 2020-16

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ORDINANCE NO. 2020-17 AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SAN MARCOS, TEXAS, REPEALING ORDINANCE NO. 2020- 16 THAT ORDERED A SPECIAL ELECTION TO BE HELD ON MAY 2, 2020 FOR THE PURPOSE OF FILLING A VACANCY FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE UNEXPIRED TERM OF OFFICE OF CITY COUNCIL PLACE FIVE; GIVING PUBLIC NOTICE THAT A NEW DATE FOR CONDUCTING A SPECIAL ELECTION TO FILL THE VACANCY WILL BE ORDERED BY ADOPTION OF A SUBSEQUENT ORDINANCE, WITH NEW FILING DEADLINES, DUE TO THE CURRENT COVID-19 PANDEMIC; DECLARING AN EMERGENCY CREATING THE NEED TO ADOPT THIS ORDINANCE WITH ONLY ONE READING; AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE RECITALS: 1. On March 17, 2020 the San Marcos City Council adopted Ordinance No. 2020-16 ordering a special election to be held on May 2, 2020 to fill a vacancy in the office of City Council Place 5 caused by a letter of resignation submitted by Dr. Jocabed Marquez. It was the intention of the City Council to have the special election held on that uniform election date concurrently with other elections to be conducted in Hays County by the Hays County Elections Administrator. 2. Under the provisions of Article 16, Section 17 of the Texas Constitution, Dr. Marquez shall "hold over" and continue to perform the duties of her office until her successor is elected and qualifies. 3. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Texas Governor Greg Abbott issued a proclamation on March 18, 2020 allowing, but not requiring, certain political subdivisions with elections set for the May 2, 2020 uniform election date to postpone their elections to the next uniform election date occurring on November 3, 2020. 4. On March 18, 2020 the office of the Texas Secretary of State (SOS) issued "Election Advisory 2020-12 for the May 2, 2020 Uniform Election Date" that declared the filing period for elections postponed pursuant to the Governor's proclamation to be irrevocably closed as of 5:00 p.m. on March 23, 2020. 5. On March 24, 2020, SOS issued a clarification of Governor Abbott's proclamation. According to SOS, the Governor's proclamation does not apply to and does not authorize a political subdivision with a special election to fill a vacancy set for May 2, 2020 to postpone the election to November 3, 2020 and it did not waive requirements in Article 11, Section 11 of the Texas Constitution for filling such vacancies.