Charter Amendments: Vote Yes AND No

There's an election in Texas on Tuesday, November 3, 2015. Early voting begins Monday, October 19. Among other things, there are 83 propositions for amendments to the Richardson city charter.

There's a "Vote YES" side that argues that the charter updates are long overdue, with some of them needed to clean up unintended consequences from the changes for direct election of the mayor approved in 2012, and others needed to get the city charter in conformance with state and federal law. This side wants you to vote "YES" to every single one of the 83 amendments. This side's spokesman is Bill Sproull, who happens to be president of the Richardson Chamber of Commerce, although he's heading up the "Vote YES" campaign in a private capacity Ken Hutchenrider, chairman of the Richardson Vote YES Campaign Committee.

And there's a "Vote NO" side that doesn't like how the charter review process was conducted, thinks the charter amendments are designed to legalize sketchy business practices, and, well, doesn't like pretty much anything the city does. This side's spokesman is the rebellious biker Johnny played by Marlon Brando in the movie "The Wild One".

Mildred: "Hey Johnny, what are you rebelling against?"
Johnny: "Whadda you got?"

Source: The Wild One.

I'm here to help you navigate between these all-or-nothing positions.

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Like I said, there are 83 propositions. Don't blindly vote "YES" to everything; don't blindly vote "NO" to everything. As Tim Gunn tells the designers on Project Runway, "Choose wisely." (It's my guilty pleasure; so sue me.)

Enough prelude. Here are my detailed recommendations for how to vote:

• City Charter Amendments Nos. 1-10
• City Charter Amendments Nos. 11-20
• City Charter Amendments Nos. 21-30
• City Charter Amendments Nos. 31-40
• City Charter Amendments Nos. 41-50
• City Charter Amendments Nos. 51-60
• City Charter Amendments Nos. 61-70
• City Charter Amendments Nos. 71-83
• City Charter Amendments: Upon Further Review

If it's too much to read all that, here's a nice, short cheat sheet you can print off and take to the polls with you.

Yes/No	Propositions	Reason
YES	1,2,6,7,9,11-14,20-23,25-32,34-41,43,45-51,53-66,69,70-83	Cleanup, clarification or minor change
YES	3,4	Calls special election for council vacancies
NO	5	Restricts public's right to attend and speak at meetings
NO	8	Permits unlimited contractual term for city manager
NO	10,15,17,18,67	Insufficient information to judge
NO YES	16	Removes cap on total indebtedness
YES	19	Calls for periodic charter review
YES	24	Pays council members $100 per meeting
YES	33	Makes city attorney also municipal court prosecutor
NO	42	Loosens definition of what are emergency expenditures
NO YES	44	Restricts public's use of referendum
NO YES	52	Restricts public's use of recall
YES	68	Removes cap on franchise fees

And if even that table is too much to cut out and take to the voting booth with you, just remember how to vote on the most consequential amendments: Vote YES on 3 and 4 (these increase the public's powers). Vote NO on 5. And, after further review, vote YES on 44 and 52 (even though these restrict the public's powers).

Remember to vote.