In the face of a petition to recall him from office, Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson maintains that he has been diligently attending City meetings as records show he has presided over more than 90% of council meetings throughout his tenure as mayor.
Last week, local activist Davante Peters filed a notice informing the City of his petition to recall Johnson from office. Peters cited Johnson’s party switch and alleged absence from City meetings as the reasons behind the recall effort.
“Our mayor is not showing up to work. His party switch was definitely a motivation as well,” Peters said, per NBC 5 DFW.
“If we regular people didn’t go to work, we wouldn’t have a job,” he added, according to The Texas Tribune. “I feel like our leadership should be held to that same standard.”
In September, KERA News described Johnson as an “absent mayor,” reporting that he missed more than 130 hours of city council meetings unexcused by the city secretary since he became mayor in 2019.
However, Johnson maintains that he has held an admirable attendance record throughout his time in office.
“Every year since taking office in 2019, Mayor Johnson has had a greater than 90% attendance record as the presiding officer of the Dallas City Council,” the mayor’s office said in a statement to The Dallas Express.
Records from the City confirm that Johnson has attended 92% of city council meetings since his inauguration in June 2019.
From June 17, 2019, to January 10, 2024, the mayor missed 14 out of 183 meetings that the city secretary did not excuse. In the same time frame, he had three excused absences as he was tending to official mayoral business.
Within the past six months, the mayor has missed two city council meetings. However, his absence from a council briefing on December 5 was “due to a medical reason.” This absence was not excused by the city secretary.
Furthermore, the Dallas City Code states that if any council member, including the mayor, misses more than 10% of council meetings, their salary must be “reduced proportionately by the percentage of meetings missed.”
City Secretary Bilierae Johnson confirmed to The Dallas Express that Johnson’s pay has not been docked for this reason.
Additionally, the mayor is bound by stricter rules than the rest of the council members regarding meeting attendance. While council members may, and frequently do, attend official meetings virtually via webcast, the mayor of Dallas does not have that privilege.
Under Texas law, the presiding officer of a governmental body with jurisdiction in three or more counties must be physically present.
“A meeting of a … governmental body that extends into three or more counties may be held by videoconference call only if the member of the governmental body presiding over the meeting is physically present at one location of the meeting that is open to the public,” according to the Open Meetings Act.
The City of Dallas is subject to this law as the city limits extend into Denton and Collin Counties, in addition to the majority of the city being in Dallas County.
While the recall effort against Johnson has made headlines in state and local publications, the only thing that has really occurred thus far is the City received a notice informing it of the recall petition.
The requirements for initiating a recall effort against a Dallas official consist of a written notice signed by at least five registered voters that a petition to recall is being circulated, according to City Code. This written notice was filed with the City Secretary’s Office by Peters on January 5.
Peters’ notice includes seven signatures and claims Johnson has missed 13 city council meetings in “entirety.”
The petition to recall must be filed with the city secretary within 60 days of the notice and signed by at least 15% of the registered voters eligible to vote in the most recent election.
In last May’s general election, 690,635 residents were eligible to vote in the City of Dallas, meaning that Peters’ petition would require at least 103,595 to trigger a recall process.
If a petition is filed with enough signatures, the city secretary has 30 days to examine it and verify the signatures.
“If the city secretary finds the recall petition in order, the city secretary shall submit the petition to the city council,” according to City Code. “The city council shall then, as soon as practicable, call a recall election on the next available election date that is not less than 60 days after the certification of the recall petition, unless the next available election date is the general election in which case the election will be held on that date.”
Since Mayor Johnson publicly left the Democratic Party and joined the Republican Party in September, he has faced public scrutiny over efforts like his launch of the Republican Mayors Association.
However, Johnson has argued that criticisms levied against him on a partisan basis are inconsistent and hypocritical.
“It’s funny they didn’t seem to have an issue when my predecessor spoke at the Democratic convention during his first term as mayor, nor did they have a problem with me being a member of the Democratic Mayors Association for the past five years,” he said previously.
In a statement to The Dallas Express on Thursday, the mayor’s office said, “Since he was first elected, Mayor Johnson has focused his time on lowering crime, growing our economy, cutting taxes, and improving the quality of life for families in our city.”
