The petition to recall Denton City Council member Brandon Chase McGee has failed after picking up steam in early November.
Last week, the petition was submitted to the city secretary’s office for verification. The city secretary had seven days to verify that the petition had enough valid signatures to place McGee’s recall election on the May ballot.
The petition would need at least 2,751 valid signatures from registered Denton voters — that is, at least 25% of the number of votes cast for McGee and his opponent, Erica Garland, in the previous election for Place 5 — according to the city charter.
If a recall petition is certified, the city secretary notifies the council member, who would then have seven days to resign. If the council member doesn’t resign, then the petition would appear on the council agenda for a council vote on whether to hold a special recall election in May.
In a Wednesday morning email to the Denton Record-Chronicle, Dustin Sternbeck, the city’s chief communications officer, said that while the recall petition had 2,985 signatures, 317 of those signatures were not accepted per the requirements via the city charter and State Election Code.
That would leave 2,668 signatures — not enough for the petition to be certified.
“The petition was not certified as it did not meet the requirements of the charter and state law,” Sternbeck wrote.
Last month, McGee mentioned that he believed Chris Watts, a former mayor and council member, was one of those behind the petition to recall him.
Watts’ name wasn’t listed as part of the petition committee. Those names were Olive Morton, Frank King, Whitney Donohue, Donna Smith and Paul Juarez.
On Wednesday afternoon, Watts, who was a signature collector, confirmed that the petition was short of the required number despite the additional signatures they had collected. He thought it was closer to 100, though he said he wasn’t given an exact number.
“Per the charter, when she [City Secretary Lauren Thoden] sends it back — it’s without prejudice — we have to have different grounds [to file another petition],” Watts said. “We’re going to get together and talk about it and look at the data.”
Several reasons, Watts said, were listed on the petition to recall McGee, including untruthfulness related to McGee’s claim about a graduate degree and his unwillingness to serve on any council subcommittees that don’t meet on Tuesday.
Other reasons included, according to the petition:
- Being untruthful about his education in a candidate forum questionnaire and his position on the 2006 Olympic ice-dancing team,
- Placing the public at risk by driving a commercial vehicle while participating in a City Council meeting via video conference, and
- Reporting a conversation with H-E-B that the grocery company denied having had with any council member.
“He replied no comment to a city staff inquiry,” Watts said. “H-E-B hadn’t talked to anyone.”
McGee, who has denied being untruthful, was about six months into his second two-year council term in October when Mayor Gerard Hudspeth announced from the dais that a petition to recall McGee was circulating and told people to see him if they wanted to sign it.
On Wednesday evening, McGee said he didn’t do anything wrong regarding the video conference claim, confirming he still works for the company, and reiterated his claim about Watts. He called for recall election reform and said that recall efforts aren’t necessarily a bad thing since they galvanize people to get involved in the local government process.
“This recall was a way to supersede this election,” McGee said. “They tried to get me out a different way, and I’m moving on and doing what I’m doing to make Denton better.”
Hudspeth, who didn’t respond to a request for comment, further explained his reasoning for wanting to recall McGee on Facebook.
“I need your help. ... Sign the recall petition!” Hudspeth wrote in an Oct. 21 Facebook post. “Join me in helping a former single mom & 14 year resident of Denton. She has worked hard to go from renter to homeowner! She is being blocked from serving on a city board, of which she is qualified to serve (per staff and council written rules). I am asking for your signature, because that is the only recourse. As citizens/residents of Denton we have a right to petition our government. Voters are the ultimate decision makers and they hold elected officials accountable for their actions and decisions.”
The “single mom” he referred to is Garland, who lost to McGee in May by a margin of 83 votes — 50.4% of the vote for McGee and 49.6% for Garland.
Hudspeth spent about $10,000 from his reelection campaign to support Garland’s bid for Place 5, according to campaign finance reports.
After she lost the election, Hudspeth nominated Garland to the Planning and Zoning Commission, but her nomination was blocked by a council majority that included McGee due to questionable social media posts Garland had made in the past. Hudspeth then superseded council rules and brought her name back for reconsideration in early June and again in late June, only for it to fail due to a rule violation because only council members on the prevailing side of an issue are allowed to file a motion to reconsider.
Hudspeth offered Garland’s situation a few times as justification for promoting the petition to recall McGee. Not everyone agreed with his justification.
“As a voting citizen, I do not agree with using the dais to promote a recall petition against another council member and definitely not for personal differences,” wrote a commenter to Hudspeth’s Oct. 21 Facebook post. “Unless some actual wrong doing is being alleged against Councilman McGee, I will not consider signing this petition.”
In a follow-up comment on Facebook, Hudspeth said it wasn’t personal.
“It is not personal, for me. I’m nominating someone that has been evaluated by staff and is allowed to serve. But for personal or other reasons, she is being blocked. That is not right. I am lending my signature, to stand up for citizens rights,” Hudspeth wrote in a comment to his Oct. 21 post. “I respect your [opinion], thank you for sharing your thoughts.”
A petition to recall Hudspeth appeared shortly after his post.
Last week, council member Brian Beck, who is a signature collector for the recall petition against Hudspeth, wasn’t sure how many signatures had been collected.
As of Wednesday afternoon, the petition to recall Hudspeth hadn’t been submitted to the city secretary, Sternbeck wrote in a follow-up email to the Record-Chronicle.
On Wednesday, Watts stressed the petition against McGee doesn’t mention Garland as a reason for the recall effort. He reiterated that organizers would be looking to verify the data.
“We followed the process available by the charter,” Watts said. “I’ve always said we trust the process, and if we didn’t get there, we’ll determine what’s next.”
