Texas City – Texas City Mayor Dedrick Johnson is responding to a citizen-led petition seeking to recall him from office.
The petition was filed last week in Galveston County by resident Joshua McMeekin, who told KPRC 2 that roughly 900 signatures have been collected so far.
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In a six-page affidavit obtained by KPRC 2, McMeekin outlined several reasons for the recall effort, including alleged violations of the open meetings act, ignoring problems within the city police department, and exercising “dictatorial control” over the city commission.
Asked about the accusations, Mayor Johnson said misinformation is “spreading like wildfire on social media.”
“The word that’s being commonly used is dictator, and that’s 180 degrees opposite of what I actually am,” Johnson said.
Johnson said he supports residents’ right to initiate a recall but hopes signers base their decisions on facts.
He admitted to one mistake during a public city commission meeting on certificate of obligation bonds, when he accepted public comment after the agenda item.
“That was an error. It was a simple error,” Johnson said. “The very next meeting, we moved them back. In fact, we redid everything that was on that meeting’s agenda and allowed the public to make, we even retook the vote. So nothing official came out of that meeting, and it was a one-time situation. I acknowledged that publicly and did apologize for that.”
Johnson also denied stopping anyone from recording a public meeting, despite a cell phone video obtained by KPRC 2 suggesting otherwise. He said the meeting in question was not public.
“It was an internal meeting between collective bargaining of police officers and the management of the city,” Johnson said.
At a recent drive-up petition signing event at Mainland Tools, longtime Texas City residents shared their views.
Wayne Hamilton, an 82-year-old resident, said he wants a more conservative mayor.
“Things like the money he wants to spend on this new city hall annex place down here. Just he’s spending too much money and wasting it,” Hamilton said.
Brad Jones, another longtime resident, criticized Johnson’s handling of the police department.
“It’s time we get our city back to where it needs to be,” Jones said. “The officers need to be on the streets.”
The Texas City Municipal Police Association President, Rachael Sphar, announced her full support for the recall last week on social media. She said the decision was not made lightly.
Sphar said more than 30 officers have resigned since early 2023, following the appointment of Chief Landis Cravens by Mayor Johnson. According to Sphar, many left due to retaliation from leadership.
“That’s wholly opinionated on her behalf because we’ve actually done a lot of things to look into any and every situation that comes forward,” Johnson said. “I just push for accountability within the police department and all of those things are handled internally by management, according to state law, according to department policy.”
Johnson said he will not retaliate against critics and encourages residents to attend his quarterly community conversations.
“There’s been no retaliation from my office or on behalf of anyone with the City of Texas City for public criticism of what we’re doing,” Johnson said.
Supporters of the mayor include Texas City Mayor Pro-Tem Thelma Bowie, who praised Johnson’s accomplishments on social media, saying they “defy the norm.”
The petition requires 1,200 signatures to be certified by the city.
If certified, Johnson will have five days to decide whether or not to resign. If he decides not to, a recall election will be held no less than 45 days and no more than 60 days later, allowing residents to vote on whether he should remain in office.
