BY SHELBIE HAMILTON
What they’re saying
Looking ahead
If approved, Proposition A would be effective for the May 2025 election, in which four council member seats are up for election. Of those four, only two council members will have completed two terms in their current seats—Fuller along with council member Charlie Philips. Council members also indicated at an Aug. 6 meeting that another review of the composition of the council should be conducted. Due to state law, the next charter amendment election that could be called in McKinney for any item, including composition or any propositions that may fail in the upcoming election, would be for the November 2026 election.
“We believe that Prop A is getting us one step closer to allowing residents to vote for who they feel would ... the best candidate, and not hindered by an arbitrary number of terms.” SALLY RICHE, PRESIDENT OF THE CITIZENS FOR MCKINNEY PAC
“Democracy is based on participation of the citizens, and what [we can] do to encourage participation from the citizens is to have new, viable candidates that come and represent citizens.” TOM MICHERO, PRESIDENT OF THE KEEP MCKINNEY UNIQUE PAC
Diving deeper
specifically in seeing through city partnerships and projects. “There are situations to where current council members and current mayors ... are doing good work,” Cox said. “It takes time to get commit- ments from state and local and federal leaders, and to have turnover, oftentimes you lose that experience.” Riche, whose Citizens for McKinney PAC supports Proposition A, said City Council mem- bers and the mayor are some of the few elected officials who have term limits imposed, noting the only other political appointment McKinney residents vote for that is subject to term limits is the president. “Any member wishing to continue serving would have to campaign, and voters, through an election, will decide which candidates will serve,” Fuller said in an email. “It is always the will of the voters that [prevails] in our democracy.”
Beller, who was elected in 2021 and represents District 1, said he will vote against Proposition A. “We’ve had a two-term limit for over 20 years in McKinney and I think it has served us well,” he said in an email. “We are a large community with lots [of] good leaders. We should constantly be growing and preparing new leaders and then providing opportunities for them to serve.” Tom Michero, who started the Keep McKinney Unique PAC to oppose Proposition A, said term limits encourage “participatory leadership” and help to mitigate some of the advantages incum- bent candidates may have. Chabot criticized the ballot language for Proposition A as being misleading, noting voters may read it as instilling term limits rather than increasing current term limits. “Government needs to be open and honest, and Proposition A meets neither of those,” Chabot said. Cox said increasing the council’s term lim- its could provide consistency in leadership,
Mark your calendars
The next City Council election is May 3, 2025. Seats up for election include:
Mayor Currently occupied by George Fuller District 1 Currently occupied by Justin Beller District 3 Currently occupied by Geré Feltus At Large 1 Currently occupied by Charlie Philips
SOURCE: CITY OF MCKINNEY/COMMUNITY IMPACT
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