HARKER HEIGHTS, Texas — It's been a back and forth battle for Prop A in Harker Heights. Back in November, voters approved the ordinance directing police not to enforce low level marijuana possession crimes.
A few weeks later, City Council repealed the ordinance, but voters then decided to repeal the council's repeal.
It is clear that voters feel passionate about this topic with over 60% of the vote approving the proposition in November and almost 2,300 people speaking out on the proposition in May, but they still wait for answers.
"One vote difference shows that that means people still want this in Harker Heights and democracy won," Julie Oliver, founder of Ground Game Texas, said.
It was a very close call during the May election. Harker Heights voters voted against repealing Prop A in the city. With 1,135 people voting "no" and 1,134 voting "yes".
Oliver believes more people would have said no, if it wasn't for phrasing.
"The May ballot language was incredibly confusing. It's counter intuitive," Oliver said. "I think a lot of folks didn't vote the correct way I think they were thinking. They wanted marijuana 'de-crim' by voting yes but in reality you had to vote no if you wanted to keep marijuana 'de-crim' on the books."
With the people voting not to repeal Prop A, residents are now waiting to see what the City will do.
"This should be a very clear message to city council that this is what the community wants. They voted for it twice now," Oliver said. "I think it would be unwise to go in as an elected official and undo the votes. Two times."
Ground Game Texas says that if the city fails to come up with a decision the second time around, it may be time to elect a new city council official, so they can finally have their voices heard.
"We have a duty to let them know what City Council is doing, how they are doing this and whether or not they are implementing this," Oliver said, "And we will let them know."
According to the city, if voters elect to repeal city council's repeal, the marijuana ordinance would still not be revived.
The city cites the following Section 10.16(C) of the Code of Ordinances that reads the following:
"When any ordinance repealing a former ordinance, clause, or provision shall be itself repealed, the repeal shall not be construed to revive the former ordinance, clause, or provision, unless it is expressly provided."
The city states that it will continue to follow the the Constitution and all state laws.
6 News did reach out to the Assistant City Manager, Jerry Bark, but he did not respond to our messages.
Ground Game Texas said there was a 63% increase in voter turnout this year over the same exact election two years ago.
So, there is no question that people care about this topic, but what this means for marijuana use in the city, still remains unknown.
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