Brownsville voters pass 15 propositions on ethics, commissioner pay, more

Brownsville voters on Tuesday overwhelmingly passed a slate of 15 propositions that include new ethics regulations for elected officials, according to unofficial results, along with increasing future commissioners’ and mayors’ pay rate. Most of the propositions passed with roughly 80% or more of voter approval. Only Propositions D and H, which increase elected official pay and increase the number of members on the Audit and Oversight Committee from five to seven, passed with less. Propositions A, B and C bolster the city’s ability to remove commissioners or block candidates who don’t meet ethics requirements. Under the new rules, a commissioner can be forced to resign if they did not meet residential requirements to serve on the commission, were convicted of a felony, violated the city’s personal financial interest rules, missed three consecutive regular meetings without an excuse, or missed six regular meetings overall within 12 months. A commissioner or mayor being convicted of a cri