On Monday, Jan. 11, Austinites for Progressive Reform submitted its petition, with 24,000 signatures, for a May election on four amendments to the Austin city charter – the biggest being a switch from council-manager government to the strong-mayor model used in many big U.S. cities, including Houston, but not in most Texas cities. City Clerk Janette Goodall will test a random sample of those signatures, as state law allows, to verify that APR met the 20,000-name threshold for the ballot. ( Save Austin Now failed this test when it submitted its petition to restore Austin's ban on public camping, which it is challenging in court.)