A group of Granbury residents wants a Texas appeals court to green-light their efforts to recall the city's mayor and four council members over data center concerns.
Attorney Art Martinez de Vara filed a writ of mandamus with the Second Court of Appeals in Fort Worth, asking judges to order Granbury officials to recognize five recall petitions as valid and allow recall elections to take place in November.
The petitions target Mayor Jim Jarratt, Mayor Pro Tem Bruce Wadley and council members Greg Corrigan, Gary Overdier and Zeb Ullom.
The recall effort is the latest development in a months-long dispute over Project Patriot, a proposed large-scale power generation and artificial intelligence data center campus on roughly 2,000 acres of land known as Knox Ranch.
Granbury annexed the property from Hood County in January.
Residents have raised concerns about the city's transparency and handling of the project, including allegations involving the Texas Open Meetings Act. Those allegations are part of separate ongoing litigation.
The controversy has also included a separate petition signed by more than 800 residents calling for a vote of no confidence in City Manager Chris Coffman and City Attorney Jeremy SoRelle.
The city rejected the petitions in late July, saying only a small number of signatures could be verified.
In a statement responding to the appeal, the city maintained the same position it did when first rejecting the petitions.
"The City reviewed the petitions in accordance with the Granbury City Charter and applicable state law and determined that they did not meet the requirements for certification," the statement said. "The City is preparing its response for filing with the Court."
According to the filed petitions, organizers collected more than 5,000 signatures across the five petitions.
But according to the city, only 26 signatures could be verified by the city secretary.
City officials cited incomplete addresses on some signatures and argued the allegations in the petitions were too vague or did not meet legal requirements.
The petitions accuse officials of violating the Texas Open Meetings Act, improperly approving zoning and land entitlements for Knox Ranch, failing to provide adequate public notice and putting private interests ahead of residents' health, safety and welfare. Organizers also allege the council neglected its duties and betrayed the public trust.
Mayor Jim Jarratt believes the the allegations were not specific enough to meet the legal requirements.
"The petition for recall of Mayor James Jarratt fails to meet the legal requirements of the Texas Elections Code and the Granbury City Charter," Jarratt said in a statement. "Therefore, the petition shall not be certified and is deemed moot and failed."
But Martinez de Vara disagrees.
“The grounds are sufficient,” he said. "We feel that both of their reasons for rejecting the signatures and or petitions were invalid."
Martinez de Vara said Texas courts have previously ruled that a city name does not necessarily need to appear in a voter's address if the voter can otherwise be identified.
“It's very easy to identify them,” said Martinez de Vara. “There's no ambiguity. You can look it up on the voter list and see that it's a person of the same name, the same birth date, the same voter ID. We think we're pretty confident on that.”
The petitions included voter ID numbers of each person that signed. Martinez de Vara argues that should be enough to verify the signatures.
He also argues the city does not have the authority to determine whether the reasons given for a recall are sufficient.
"There's no discretion from the city to determine whether the reason for recall is sufficient," Martinez de Vara said. "That's the prerogative of the voters."
The appeals court has established an expedited schedule for the case. Martinez de Vara said the city has an opportunity to respond to the filing, after which his legal team can respond to the city.
"I believe there's sufficient time to get it done by November," he said. “And even if not, the Texas election code allows courts to order elections anyway. Not allowing them to hold it (a recall election) in November and instead waiting till next May in effect, rewards the misbehavior of the city.”
If the court determines the petitions are valid, the November election could include recall elections for the five Granbury officials.
The legal fight could also shape the political landscape in Granbury and Hood County beyond the recall effort.
Local elections are already becoming a flashpoint for residents concerned about data center development, transparency and how local officials respond to large-scale projects.
This year’s primary election for Hood County Judge saw longtime incumbent Ron Massingill lose to Mark Lowery by nearly 20%. Lowery credits his victory to his positions on data centers.
Candidates seeking local office may increasingly be expected to take positions on transparency and data centers, said resident Jacob Herald, an organizer with Grassroots Granbury.
“I think the elections, of course, are going to be important going forward," Herbold said. “They know it's political suicide at this point to just say, ‘oh, yeah, I'm pro data center. Let's bring them all in.’”
Emmanuel Rivas Valenzuela is KERA's breaking news reporter. Got a tip? Email Emmanuel at erivas@kera.org. KERA News is made possible through the generosity of our members.
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