Unofficial results: McKinney voters hesitant to give council raises and term limits

The McKinney City Council asked for more tenure, but voters appear to have rejected that.

With 112 of 117 polling places reporting late Tuesday, nearly 51.2% of voters opposed Proposition A, which would have increased council member terms from two consecutive four-year terms to three. And nearly 56% of voters opposed increasing council members' salaries to a monthly stipend of $750 and the mayor's salary to $1,000 per month.

Nearly 74.2% of voters favored Proposition C and nearly 73% favored Proposition D. The proposals will amend the city charter to comply with new state laws passed since the last charter election in 2019, and remove provisions and policies that the city no longer wants. follows.

The city council has put the proposals to the vote earlier this year. The term extension would have applied to the current municipal council. The pay increase would only apply to future council members.

Tom Michero, who founded the Keep McKinney Unique PAC to oppose the term limits proposal, said the charter change was self-serving. Michero's PAC has raised more than $5,000 to oppose the term limit extension.

“It just doesn't pass the smell test,” he said.

Under the current city charter, elected officials can serve eight years as a council member and, after a one-year break, an additional eight years as mayor. Proposal A would have increased that to 12 years in each position.

McKinney Mayor George Fuller is about to complete his second term. Critics of the term extension said it was put to a vote to give Fuller another term. But the mayor told KERA before the election that he was unsure whether he would run again. He is eligible for a seat on the city council. Fuller told KERA he would not decide to run until the January deadline to file for office.

Fuller said term limits should be determined by voters. Several incumbents in Collin County and the state of Texas have served more than two terms.

“We can vote for who we think is the best candidate, and that won't be suppressed by an arbitrary number of terms,” he said.

Bridgette Wallis, who writes the text McKinney Citizen to Citizen Blogsaid allowing three-term members per seat would reduce diversity.

“The longer the establishment is in charge, the less they will look for new ideas and perspectives,” she said.

Wallis and Michero both said they support adding term limits to other elected positions.

Michero said turnover at the City Council allows for new ideas and greater participation in local government. He also said term limits are about more than the current council.

“What happens if we don't have good municipal government in the future?” Michero said.

But AJ Micheletto, a volunteer at the Citizens for McKinney PAC, said consistent leadership is key for the growing city. McKinney is the county seat of Collin County, the third-fastest growing county in the country, according to the U.S. Census. McKinney has a population of 213,509 as of July 2023 Census data – about 100,000 more than the city's population in 2010.

Micheletto said McKinney needs leaders with experience addressing the impact of growth on local infrastructure and government services.

“It is important that our leadership understands and has a plan for the future so that we can grow in the best and most intentional way possible,” she said.

Michero said the electorate should decide the city's future direction, not council members.

“Growth must be managed, and it must be managed by the will of the people,” he said. “And if there is an incumbent who comes to power and does not listen to the will of the people, then that will not be good for the city.”

Do you have a tip? Email Caroline Love at clove@kera.org.

Caroline Love is one Report for America corps member for KERA News.

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