A rare evening meeting of San Angelo City Council members next Tuesday will cover an array of topics, but the top item on the agenda is the report about the recent recall petition for Mayor Tom Thompson, which has been declared legally insufficient after failing to gather enough signatures.
City Clerk Heather Stastny reported that the petition fell more than 1,100 signatures short of the San Angelo City Charter’s minimum threshold to trigger an official verification process.
The recall effort began on April 21, 2026, when petitioners filed an initial affidavit with the City Clerk’s office, prompting the city to issue official petition pages for public circulation. On June 22, organizers submitted 103 completed pages, which they certified contained a total of 1,887 signatures.
However, the City Charter sets a high bar for removing an elected official. Under Section 48, a recall petition must secure signatures equal to at least 30 percent of the total votes cast in the last regular municipal election for that specific office.
For Mayor Thompson’s seat, the organizers had to collect at least 2,971 valid signatures. Even if every single turned-in signature had been flawless, the petition’s gross total of 1,887 was already well below the target.
An administrative review by the City Clerk’s office found that the petition ultimately fell 1,119 signatures short of the legal requirement. As a result of the shortage, the recall effort cannot proceed.
Other items on the council’s regular agenda deal with zone changes, a move to reinstate regulations regarding temporary signs for various purposes, and adding newly adopted residential zoning designations.
In the closed portion of the meeting the council will consult with an attorney regarding Texas Local Government Code Chapter 380 and Texas Tax Code Chapter 312, dealing with sales tax rebates, and temporary tax exemptions for reinvestment zones.
The meeting begins at 5:30 PM on Tuesday July 21st, at the McNease Convention Center – South Meeting Room, 501 Rio Concho Drive.
