Amarillo too early by morning, unlawful ballot language charges in Austin

The Texas Supreme Court has given the city of Austin until Thursday to respond to a lawsuit filed with the court contending the mayor and city council approved “unlawful and misleading” ballot language for a citywide efficiency audit.

Beginning in September, Amarillo City Council meetings will start so early that they’ll have to unlock city hall before its usual time. If the plan informally approved by the council last week takes effect, the 7 a.m. sessions would be the earliest among Texas cities over 150,000 population, based on a review of those cities’ council agendas. The closest is 9 a.m., the hour when meetings are called to order in the state’s largest three cities of San Antonio, Dallas and Houston.

The city of Austin is being sued for the second time this week by the same attorney contending the city council has approved language crafted to mislead voters on two major November ballot issues: an efficiency audit of city departments and a rewriting of the city’s land development code.

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