The Texas Supreme Court should grant Relator’s petition for mandamus because common law requires cities to adopt ballot language for a proposed ordinance that accurately identifies the measure’s chief features, character, and purpose. The municipal efficiency study is modeled on Ronald Reagan’s California Commission and Grace Commission, which sought to improve state government and federal government by conducting a thorough analysis of government operations and making specific efficiency and enhancement recommendations. By referring to the existing city and external auditors, and by including a speculative cost estimate, Austin affirmatively misrepresents the more comprehensive features, character, and purpose of the efficiency study. Accordingly, the Court should grant Relator’s petition for mandamus, and require Austin to adopt ballot language that complies with the common law standard.
Property Rights – Short-Term Rentals
A homeowner in New Braunfels, TX takes on the city’s short-term rental ban. Rafael Marfil has a simple wish: to rent his property to families for less than thirty days—something that folks in New Braunfels, Texas have been doing for decades. But the City of New Braunfels made that illegal when it banned property owners...