ALDERMAN 1 - JR SMITH
ALDERMAN 2 - WENDELL MOORE
ALDERMAN 3/MAYOR PRO-TEM
TATE SMITH
ALDERMAN 4 - ROBIN PALMER
ALDERMAN 5 - GREGG COLE
City Council Meetings
Regularly scheduled city council meetings are held at 5:00 p.m. on the second Monday of each month.
Meetings are held at City Hall, 680 Crystal Farms Rd. Tatum, TX 75691. Special meetings and workshops are held as needed. Citizens wishing to speak before the city council may do so by submitting a Citizen Comment form to the city secretary on the day of the meeting. For further information, call the city secretary at (903)803-3589.
The Agendas & Minutes page provides links to the most current agendas and approved minutes.
About the City Council
The City of Tatum operates under the mayor-council form of government. The mayor's powers are limited. The mayor has no vote and can only vote in order to break a tie. The mayor cannot appoint department heads, but can make employment recommendations to the city council for these positions. The mayor cannot discharge employees, but can make recommendations to the city council to do so. The mayor is the presiding officer over the city council, and has no veto power.
The city council acts as the legislative body, while the city secretary acts as the executive branch in a council-manager form of government. Under this form of government, the city council and mayor have no administrative duties. The city secretary holds administrative duties over city employees and is responsible for adherence to city ordinances, policies, rules, and regulations set forth by the city council. Different from the normal council-manager form of government, the city secretary is not allowed to hire department heads and cannot terminate any employee without city council approval.
The mayor and five city councilmembers are elected at large. The mayor and each councilmember serve a two-year term, with no term limits. Councilmember places 1, 2, and 3 are elected in odd-numbered years; whereas, the mayor, and councilmember places 4 and 5 are elected in even-numbered years. The mayor pro-tem is elected from within the city council every year during the first council meeting after the election. The city council as a whole, appoints the city secretary, city judge, and city attorney. The mayor and city council are responsible for adopting ordinances, resolutions, and policies that provide direction to the city secretary and department heads.