UPDATE: 8/5/2026 – The Concho Observer has received a reply from the San Angelo Data Center Citizens Coalition, which you can view below.
San Angelo City Clerk Heather Stastny told the city council on Tuesday that the petition to recall Councilman Harry Thomas received 53 certified signatures, and the recall election has been set for Nov. 3 2026, so residents of SMD-3 in San Angelo can decide if the long-serving councilman has betrayed the voter’s trust. The motion passed 6-1.
After voting against setting the election date, Mayor Tom Thompson threw down the gauntlet on what he sees as possibly actionable abuse of public officials.
“I have served many years with Harry Thomas, never once has anything not been for the betterment of the city. I have issues with how trust is valued…”
“I think there have been comments made on this…the clarity on how people solicit signatures on this need to be very well defined.”
“I think there are cases for slander and libel, where people have made comments — even recently, up and down my street, about a fellow councilman — making claims and statements that are untrue. I think those should be documented, and I have a question for legal.”
“I think people set up on city property, which is fine, but isn’t there a process…that must be followed?”
The city attorney said that he would advise.
Citizen’s Response
The San Angelo Data Center Citizens Coalition, the group behind the recall campaigns, has released a statement on the mayor’s comments. They write:
“In response to Mayor Thompson’s remarks that SADCCC affiliates and volunteers were making claims and statements that are untrue and a case for slander and libel: The City’s Home Rule Charter does not require a reason for the recall of a sitting Council Member. The procedures within Section 48 of the Charter simply states: “A petition, demanding that the question of removing such officer be submitted to the voters, shall be filed with the City Clerk. Such petition for the recall of any such elective officer shall be signed by at least thirty (30) percent of the number voting to fill the office of the incumbent sought to be recalled, in the last regular municipal election to fill that office. In the event the petition for recall is of a Council Member representing a single member district, the signers of the petition must all be from that single member district in order to qualify.”
“SADCCC volunteers, by gaining signatures, is in compliance with the City Charter. In terms of making slanderous statements, Mayor Thompson provided no examples or evidence of such statements.
“Our recall campaign has never been about the character of the council members we have petitioned. The affidavit accompanying the petition for Thomas’ removal outlined experiences shared by many of the SADCCC members, as well as a large number of San Angelo residents – that Mr. Thomas (along with other council members) failed to respond to constituent concerns regarding infrastructure, transparency, and zoning.
“At the January 13 City Council meeting, after over an hour and a half of public comment, most expressing opposition and concerns from residents about noise, vibration, screening, setbacks and water issues, Mr. Thomas, along with the Mayor and four other council members, supported rezoning the Skybox property to Light Manufacturing (ML) without any safeguards. January 13 was the first Council meeting following the Council’s initial vote to rezone the early December 2025 Council meeting, which was when the community learned about this Data Center project.
“Mr. Thomas (along with other Council Members) failed to respond to the constituent concerns expressed, and voted in favor of re-zoning. This vote was damaging to the public trust of the people.
“Finally, in response to Mr. Dyson’s comment about a process being followed, Mr. Dyson should be familiar with Section 48 of the City Charter. It is the only recourse for citizens when all other options have been exhausted. Repeated failure to listen to residents and community concerns has left the only option to recall to allow Council Members who are more concerned about their constituents’ needs to be elected. SADCCC has followed the process in Section 48 of the Home Rule Charter and the City Secretary can verify this is the case as all documents were filed within the appropriate timeframes.”
