Some in the Village have already put a term to it. They call it the “Sexit,” short for Salado Exit, similar to Britain’s Brexit. But for others, it is no laughing matter. Last night, John Newman presented a petition to City Secretary Mary Ann Ray calling for the disannexation of a large portion of the residential sections of Salado, most of which were part of the original incorporation election in 2000.

The petition states: “Pursuant to Section 43.143(a) of the Local Government Code of the State of Texas, the undersigned hereby petition for a disannexation election that the following area be declared no longer part of the incorporated city limits of the Village of Salado, Texas: (SEE EXHIBIT A) It is our expectation that the Mayor of the Village of Salado, Texas shall take immediate action to order an election on the question of municipality scheduled for the next uniform election date as prescribed by law on November 8, 2016.”

The petition can be viewed in its entirety here. A map of the area can be viewed here.This morning, Salado Village Voice requested an electronic copy of the petition in its entirety, including maps and metes and bounds description and received it via email. The petition includes a map but not a metes and bounds description of the area to be annexed. The state law referred to in the petition, states: “Sec. 43.143.  DISANNEXATION BY PETITION AND ELECTION IN GENERAL-LAW MUNICIPALITY.  (a)  When at least 50 qualified voters of an area located in a general-law municipality sign and present a petition to the mayor of the municipality that describes the area by metes and bounds and requests that the area be declared no longer part of the municipality, the mayor shall order an election on the question in the municipality.”

According to the Texas Election Code Chapter 277 Petitions (Sec. 277.02): “(a)  For a petition signature to be valid, a petition must: (1) contain in addition to the signature: (A) the signer’s printed name; (B) the signer’s; (i) date of birth [and residence address]; or (ii) voter registration number and, if the territory from which signatures must be obtained is situated in more than one county, the county of registration; [and] (C) the signer’s residence address; and (D) the date of signing; and (2) comply with any other applicable requirements prescribed by law. (b) The change in law made by this section applies only to a petition filed on or after the effective date of this section. A petition filed before the effective date of this section is governed by law in effect when the petition was filed, and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.”

The petition presented by Newman includes the signer’s name and residence address. It includes neither the birth date of the signer nor the voter registration number of the signer in order for the “qualified voter” to be verified by the Village of Salado.

Also, according to the same statute of law concerning Chapter 277 Petitions, “The receiving authority must notify the petitioner of the sufficiency of the original petition not later than the 5th regular business day after its receipt.” (Sec. 227.0023.2) The Village will have to inform the petitioner no later than Thursday, Aug. 25 of the sufficiency of the original petition.

The statute states that “Generally, a petition may not be supplemented, modified, or amended after the date it is filed.” Sec.227.0023.1.

The law does allow from some supplementation of a petion; however, it is limited.

In cases when  “a petition is required to be filed by a specified deadline, the petitioner may file one supplementary petition BY THAT DEADLINE if (1) the original petition contains a number of signatures that EXCEEDS the required minimum number by 10 percent or more AND (2) the original petition is received NOT LATER THAN THE 10TH DAY BEFORE the deadline.”

The deadline for the disannexation election to be ordered for Nov. 8 2016 is Aug. 22. It is unknown if the election could be called for the next general election day in May 2017 if it is not called for Nov. 8 because the original petition specifies the Nov. 8 election date. Salado Village Voice has a call in to the State Elections division for clarification on this.

According to the statute, Sec. 43.143: “The election shall be held on the first uniform election date prescribed by Chapter 41, Election Code, that occurs after the date on which the petition is filed and that affords enough time to hold the election in the manner required by law.”

When the petition was presented to City Secretary Mary Ann Ray, Mayor Skip Blancett said that he would call a special session of the board of aldermen to discuss the issue at 6:30 p.m. Aug. 22. The agenda of that meeting will be posted later today and will be appended to this story.