A group of Plano residents has exceeded the required number of signatures that could potentially trigger a recall election for Plano City Council Member Tom Harrison, a city spokesperson confirmed.
The group, One Plano Our Plano, cleared a major hurdle Wednesday afternoon after presenting the petition to the city of Plano. The final tally, 4,425 signatures, exceeded the minimum requirement of 2,791 valid signatures to begin the recall election process.
In their petition, the group cited "inflammatory islamaphobic, racist and otherwise offensive communications" from Harrison as their reason for beginning the recall election process.
The city will begin to review the signatures to determine how many of them meet the standards outlined in the city charter for recall elections, which include whether they are “qualified voters.”
Harrison initially came under fire after sharing a video on his personal Facebook page in February, which depicted a young girl wearing a hijab in a classroom with the caption “share if you think Trump should ban Islam in American schools.”
The seven other members of the Plano City Council on Feb. 18 voted to censure Harrison, a formal statement of admonishment that did not affect his standing on the council. The censure was the most serious step the council, which cannot remove one of its own members, could make at the time, Mayor Harry LaRosiliere told reporters after the meeting.
Despite calls from his fellow city council members and members of the Plano community, Harrison has said publicly he will not resign.
Harrison posted an apology on his Facebook page on Feb. 14, the day after he shared the anti-Islam video. His Facebook page appeared to be made private or deleted on Feb. 18.
“My intent on inputting this on my personal Facebook page was to emphasize that Christianity is not the only religion being targeted for exclusion in our public school,” Harrison wrote at the time. “It was not meant as a personal attack against the Islamic faith.”
Petition process
According to the charter, the city secretary has five days after the filing of the petition to present the document to the council if the petition is verified.
Within five days of when the petition was presented to the council, Harrison would have five days to request a public hearing, where he could “present facts pertinent to the charges specified in the recall petition,” according to the charter. If Harrison asks for a public hearing, the city is required to schedule a public hearing to be held between five and 15 days of receiving the public hearing request.
If Harrison does not resign, the council will call for a recall election in accordance with the requirements in the Texas Election Code.
According to the charter, the ballot language is required to read: “Shall (name of person) be removed from the office of (name of office) by recall?"
To remove an officer, the charter states a majority vote is required.
The city charter language on the recall process can be found here.
Editor's note: This story has been updated to include language from a petition submitted to the city of Plano.
