Donna calls election after court steps in

Donna City Hall in an undated photo.

DONNA — City officials here ordered a municipal election to be held this November for the Place 2 and 4 seats on the Donna City Council.

The unanimous decision came during a specially called meeting on Monday after the 13th Court of Appeals issued an opinion directing the city to call the election, lest the appellate court legally force their hand.

“While the mandate has not issued, the 13th Court of Appeals has issued a ‘per curiam opinion’ commanding the city that the election be held, that the relator has met his burden,” Donna City Attorney Robert Salinas explained to the council.

“And I think it is only fair to advise the commission that, should an election not be called, then an order to show cause (for) why the council should not be held in contempt will issue,” Salinas added.

Two weeks ago, the council voted 4-to-1 to not call a November election for the two council seats after a disagreement over the interpretation of a charter amendment that extended term lengths from three years to four.

Voters approved that amendment during an election in November 2021, but the two councilmen who would be up for reelection this year — Place 2 Councilman Joey Garza and Place 4 Councilman Oscar Gonzales — expressed concerns over when the amendment was meant to go into effect.

Despite public pushback, however, on Aug. 5, the council voted to not go forward with the election. Mayor David Moreno was the sole member to vote against canceling it.

Last Friday, after receiving a petition from a Donna resident, the appellate court found that the city had erred in not ordering an election and directed them to do so by the statutory deadline outlined in the Texas Election Code.

That deadline was Monday, Salinas said.

Monday was also the deadline for any candidates wishing to run for one of the two seats to submit their candidate application.

When some of the councilmembers balked at that, Salinas reminded them that Donna wouldn’t have found itself in such a time crunch had the council ordered an election when he had originally advised them to.

“That could have been done had this commission adopted the order ordering an election when it was brought before, but the mandate of the court of criminal (sic) appeals clearly states that the city is to call an election today. And the Texas Election Code clearly states that the last day for filing is today, August the 19th,” Salinas said.

If the urgency of the matter wasn’t enough to spur them to action, the city attorney also informed the council of the potential consequences for defying the court order, which Gonzales had earlier referred to as merely “an opinion.”

When a court renders an opinion, it settles questions of law. They are typically non-negotiable without an appeal.

“Failure to follow an order of a court of judicial competence is gonna be castigated by either a fine or jail. I don’t recommend to this commission that they disobey or not follow the mandates of the 13th Court of Appeals,” Salinas said.

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