Clarendon lacks quorum; city operations to continue as normal - KFDA - NewsChannel 10 / Amarillo News, Weather, Sports

Clarendon, TX - One area city is going through a political transition - but it looks like it will be a smooth transition.

Over the course of just a few days last week, three members of Clarendon's Board of Aldermen resigned, effectively leaving the board of hold due to a lack of a quorum.  But although the board might be on hold, the city won't be.

Under Texas law, the board cannot act on any decisions it makes without a quorum.  So the city considered their options to fill the empty positions: they could hold elections in November in the general election, in May in the city's regular election, or ask permission from the governor to hold a special election.

The city chose to hold elections in November.  But until then, the board won't be able to approve next year's budget - so in the meantime, they'll continue operating under this year's budget.

"The key things that are coming up are the tax rates for next year and the new budget," explains Clarendon Alderman Sanford "Sandy" Skelton, "so since the fiscal year starts October 1, we'll have to slide into October with the current budget we have and the current tax rate."

The board asked for, and was granted, permission from the county to go ahead and plan next year's budget on the assumption they'll have a full quorum by the time they need to approve it.

"The good thing is that right now, we can continue to plan and draft a budget," says Skelton, "We also think that the resignations have no effect on day-to-day operations that are going on now."