The McKinney Recall campaign has submitted petition signatures for the potential recall of four McKinney City Council members.
McKinney Recall campaign members collected signatures throughout August and September to recall, or remove from office, the following public officials: Mayor Bill Cox and McKinney City Council members Justin Beller, Geré Feltus and Ernest Lynch.
What’s next?
The City Secretary’s office received the petition on Sept. 25, said Aschelle Morgan, senior executive communications and public affairs manager for McKinney. The recall petition contains approximately 540 pages and about 7,400 signatures, she said.
“Over the coming weeks, the City Secretary’s office will examine the petition, verify the number of signatures that satisfy the requirements of the [McKinney] City Charter and state law, and report the findings to the City Council,” Morgan said in an email. “We are looking to complete that review accurately within a reasonable timeframe.”
The city reviewed more than 3,300 signatures in about two weeks during a recall process in 2019, Morgan said.
“The time needed for this petition will depend on the number of signatures submitted and the work required to verify them,” she said. “The examination will determine whether a recall election is called.”
The background
Five McKinney voters filed a recall affidavit Aug. 11 with the City Secretary’s office. The affidavit states "a loss of public confidence in the ability of the officers named herein to faithfully represent the citizens of the City of McKinney," as grounds for recall.
Under terms of McKinney’s City Charter, the petition must have been signed by at least 5,805 qualified voters living within McKinney, which is 30% of the total number of votes cast in the city’s last regular municipal election.
If the petition meets requirements, the city secretary will notify the affected council members within five days or at the next council meeting, according to the city charter. If the notified council members do not resign within five days, council will order a citywide recall election.
