San Antonio City Council today approved a measure allowing the City Clerk to confirm the residency status of City Council candidates, News Radio 1200 WOAI reports.
Amazingly, ever since the current City Charter was approved in 1953, there has been no mechanism for the City to actually confirm that a Council candidate actually lived in the district he or she wanted to represent.
Currently, the only way the residency of a candidate could be tested was for another candidate to file a lawsuit in civil court, a process which was costly, tedious, and completely random, with phony lawsuits destroying some candidates' chances.
It has been an annoyance in City Hall races for years, but it burst into the open earlier this year, when several of the 12 candidates who filed to succeed reitirng Councilman Joe Krier in District 9 had questionable residencies. One candidate actually lived in Austin.
Under the new law, candidates will have to produce two of several common forms of identification.
"A valid voter registration certificate, a copy of their original current utility bill, a copy of an original bank statement, a copy of an original government check," City Clerk Leticia Vacek said, adding several other common forms of residency will also be accepts
.John Courage, who won the District 9 seat, says this should not be an impediment to qualified people running for office.
"I don't think any of these are beyond a typical person's ability to produce," he said.
Since it was approved unanimously, the new law takes effect immediately.