FLORESVILLE, Texas – The more than 500 people who signed a petition to recall Floresville’s mayor and two other Council members will have their chance to vote them out in November, though it wouldn’t be much of a recall.
The city attorney told Council members on Thursday night they would have to choose between violating state law by holding the recall election on May 7 or the city charter by holding it Nov. 8.
The council went with Nov. 8 by a vote of 3-2. Mayor Sherry Castillo, Mayor Pro-Tem Daniel Tejada and Councilman Juan Ortiz, the three officials facing recall, voted for that date. Councilman Johnny Ray Nieto and Councilman Jim Miller voted against it after trying unsuccessfully to order the recall election for May.
All three officials are already up for reelection on Nov. 8.
The man who circulated the petition, Eric Rodriguez, said that’s not acceptable. He thinks the recall election should happen in May, and he's ready to go to court over it.
"Sooner they get them out of office the better it is for the citizens, and the better it is for the city of Floresville,” Rodriguez said after the meeting. “And they won’t be spending money frivolously like they have been."
The recall petition was born out of officials’ attempts to get Miller off the council. The officials said Miller is not a Floresville resident.
Miller will be forced off the Council in May.
Rodriguez said he circulated the recall petition because of how the officials approved money for the city’s outside attorney in that case.
The city attorney said he has asked the judge for guidance on when the city should hold the recall election.