Texas City Mayor faces recall effort amid allegations of corruption, transparency violations

Some Texas City residents seeking to recall the mayor

A mayor who made history could soon face a recall. Texas City's first Black mayor is under fire, and organizers say they're just a few hundred signatures away from forcing him back on the ballot.

TEXAS CITY, Texas - The Texas City Mayor is under fire as residents organize to recall him.

The effort to dump the Mayor 

What we know:

A push to recall Texas City Mayor Dedrick Johnson is gaining traction, with petition organizers claiming they’ve gathered 900 of the 1,200 signatures needed to trigger a special election.

At Wednesday’s city council meeting, residents held neon protest signs and accused Johnson of fostering a culture of corruption and favoritism. Among them was Reva Rodriguez, who began attending meetings after her brother died in Texas City police custody last year.

"We just need a whole brand-new mayor. There's so much corruption," Rodriguez said. "Our eyes were unopened, we were unaware until we started coming."

The allegations 

Dig deeper:

An affidavit filed by resident Joshua McMeekin alleges Mayor Johnson violated the Texas Open Meetings Act and the Public Information Act. The document also criticizes the mayor’s handling of public records, police staffing, and what it describes as political interference in economic development.

The Mayor's response 

The other side:

Mayor Johnson defended his record in an interview after Wednesday's meeting.

"The citizens put me here in this seat, and it’s going to take the citizens, not a petition, to get me out of the seat," he said. He said citizens have the right to organize in such a way, but he feels the call for recall is baseless.  

Johnson acknowledged one agenda error that required a meeting to be redone, but said it had already been corrected. 

"There have been no findings of any violations of any open records requests in the city of Texas City none," he added.

Johnson, who became the city’s first Black mayor when he was sworn in, is up for reelection in May 2026. But if the petition reaches the required 1,200 valid signatures, a special election could take place sooner.

New rules for Texas City Council  

In the same meeting, the city council also voted to adopt a new ordinance establishing formal Commission Rules of Procedure and Order of Business, the first such set of rules in the city's history. The new policy outlines how meetings are conducted and how items are added to agendas. Critics expressed during public comment concern that the ordinance gives the mayor final say over what appears on meeting agendas, which they argue silence dissenting commissioners.