Groups fight for more control
Two separate resident-led petitions have a core value in common — both are aimed at making Taylor city government more responsive to the will of the people.
Seen as case studies in local activism, one petition seeks to have the City Council put an amendment to the City Charter on the Nov. 3 ballot allowing residents the ability to recall their elected officials.
The other pushes for controls on the development of data centers.
The former is being organized; the latter already gathered 1,400 signatures and went before the council.
While the recall petition is not associated with the data center fight, people who were unhappy with the city’s response to the data center petition may well decide that having the ability to recall an elected official is an option that should be available to voters.
Recall petition
The petition to put the power to recall municipal politicians into Taylor’s City Charter resulted from discussions held during Charter Review Commission meetings March through June.
Commission Vice Chairman Gary Gola introduced the issue of recall provisions as a possible City Charter amendment to be placed on the November general election ballot.
The item did not make the seven recommendations going to the council, failing by one vote, so supporters are now organizing a grassroots effort to ask city leaders to place it before voters.
“A recall is just another tool citizens can utilize if they find out someone they elected isn’t who they thought they would be,” Gola said.
He led a successful petition drive in 2024 to amend the City Charter to set council compensation, rather than allow council members to establish it themselves through an ordinance.
Bob Cornelius, who is organizing the group behind the petition, said the idea is one people have wanted to see enacted for several years.
He added many people assume recalling elected officials is an option in Taylor.
“I’ve talked to people around the city who didn’t know we didn’t have that ability. Let’s find out whether the citizens really want it or if it’s just something that comes up once in a while. Do you want to have an avenue to remove a council member or a mayor, should that issue arise?” Cornelius said.
The recall provision was debated twice during Charter Review Commission meetings, and ultimately was turned down in a 5-4 vote, so it was not among the potential charter amendments the commission presented to the council at the June 11 and July 9 meetings.
Gola made a separate plea to the council during its June meeting, asking to add the power of recall to the charter.
Council members are not required to follow the commission’s recommendations and can add or remove amendments at will before deciding what goes on the November ballot.
The representatives on the dais have so far chosen not to include recall powers to the list of proposed charter amendments that voters will see in November.
John McDonald, commission chairman, said concerns surfaced about frivolous recalls and about the potential to dismiss most of a sitting council, leaving the city unable to conduct official business without a quorum.
According to the Texas Municipal League, as of 2011, 90% of home-rule cities such as Taylor have recall provisions in their charters.
Cornelius said his group is currently working on making the petition easily accessible to the public for signing.
Data center petition HALT Taylor Data Center Coalition’s petition, submitted to City Council in June, was not aimed at recalling the council members who voted to support data centers with millions of dollars in incentives.
The coalition was instead petitioning the city to add language to the land development code that would halt any data center projects until the city creates a dedicated digital infrastructure zoning district.
Petitioners said such a measure would protect established residential neighborhoods and minimize infrastructure and environmental impacts.
The city clerk verified the 1,400 signatures.
In general, that number of signatures — representing more than 10% of registered Taylor voters — means the measure is required to be added to the November ballot.
But there is a catch. Consultations with legal experts revealed Texas law does not allow cities to enact or change zoning through a popular vote.
Instead, city leaders say they are collecting public feedback on the issue and could vote on a local ordinance much sooner than Nov. 3, likely in September.
HALT organizers said the coalition has not finished fighting and is currently regrouping and looking at options.
The dispute arises from the planned construction of the Blueprint Projects Data Center on Taylor’s South Side. Neighbors contend the land was meant for a park, not an industrial site.
While the recall charter petition is unrelated to the data center petition, the ability to recall a politician is a tool used in the fight against data centers.
A July 8 story by Newsweek reported that so far this year, more than 50 local officials across seven states have faced recall petitions as a result of data center decision- making, including a current recall effort in Augusta Township near Ann Arbor, Michigan, to recall all seven of the township’s elected officials.
