Oath and Installation

Attendance is strong on the audience side of Casner room and a little thin on the governing body side. Fifteen minutes before the meeting and the word is that Gloria Rivera will not make it from El Paso and Dr. Dan Petrosky is backed up with patients in Alpine. As a special meeting, four council members are required to make quorum and we have Oscar, Mary and Leo. Outgoing Mayor Lanman is out and gone already.

It looks like the old council is once again unable to make quorum. Justice of the Peace Cinderela Guevara is robed up ready to give the oath of office to the new governing body. The question is what happens without a quorum?

According to the Texas Secretary of State Elections Division (consulted on the phone today), quorum is not needed to give the oath. So, it will be interesting to see how this goes. The Local Government Code says that the new members can take the oath on the fifth business day after the election. There is no posting requirement that I can find, though the event was posted as a special meeting. The installation aspect of the new governing body simply involves having the oath ceremony in the regular meeting room and then having the new governing body take their seats.

So it appears that without quorum, Mayor Pro Tem Salgado can call for the oath to be given. Then the new council can be seated and establish quorum to possibly hold the meeting as scheduled.

It's 6:05 and no action has been taken. The audience seems to be in a good mood. All seats are filled. Administrator Sauceda is visiting with Mayor Pro Tem Salgado. Council members Oscar Martinez and Mary Williams sit at the table and visit while more chairs are brought in.

At 6:10, Salgado announces that quorum is not possible and the special meeting is cancelled. He says they will install the new members of the governing body.

Before proceeding with installation and oath of office, Sauceda hands out the certificates of election to the new members.

Cinderela makes a nice speech and thanks Dan Dunlap for the opportunity to do the oath. She acknowledges the existing council members and then gives the oath of office for all four incoming members followed by applause. Everybody signs the appropriate forms.



The new council takes their seats at the table. Dan Dunlap presides and announces that no quorum was possible for the special meeting and that there will be a small social with punch and cookies.



Simple. Calm. Friendly.