The McKinney City Council asked for more time in office – but voters appear to have turned it down.

As 112 of 117 voting centers reported Tuesday evening, nearly 51.2 percent of voters opposed Proposition A, which would have increased the term limits of council members from two consecutive four-year terms to three . And nearly 56 percent of voters opposed raising council members’ salaries to $750 a month and the mayor’s salary to $1,000 a 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 that have been passed since the last election charter amendment in 2019 and will remove provisions and policies that the city no longer enforces. follows.

City council puts proposals to vote earlier this year. The term extension would have applied to the current council. The salary 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 amendment was self-serving. Michero’s PAC raised more than $5,000 to oppose term extensions.

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

The city’s current charter allows elected officials to serve eight years as a council member and an additional eight years as mayor after a one-year break. Proposal A would have increased that to twelve years in each position.

McKinney Mayor George Fuller is about to finish his second term. Critics of the term limit extension said it was put on the ballot to give Fuller another term. But the mayor told KERA before the election that he wasn’t sure if he would run again. He is eligible to run for a seat on the city council. Fuller told KERA he won’t decide whether to run for office until the January deadline to declare his candidacy.

Fuller said term limits should be determined by voters. Several incumbents from 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 is not taken away by an arbitrary number of terms,” he said.

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

“The longer the establishment is in charge, the less it will seek new ideas and perspectives,” she said.

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

Michero said city council turnover allows for new ideas and increased participation in local government. He also said term limits are not limited to the current council.

“What will happen if we don’t have a good city council in the future? said Michéro.

But AJ Micheletto, a volunteer from Citizens of McKinney PAC, said consistent leadership is essential for the growing city. McKinney is the seat of Collin County, the third-fastest growing county in the nation according to the U.S. Census. McKinney had 213,509 inhabitants in July 2023 according to Census data — about 100,000 more than the city’s population in 2010.

Micheletto said McKinney needs leaders experienced in managing the impact of growth on local infrastructure and government services.

“It is important that our leaders understand and have a plan for the future so that we can grow in the best and most conscious way possible,” she said.

Michero said voters 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 an outgoing president comes into office and doesn’t listen to the will of the people, that’s not going to be good for the city.”

Do you have any advice? Email Caroline Love at [email protected].

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

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