San Benito’s mayor and city commissioners remain in their seats after a petition to recall them failed.

The petition was filed in September. On Friday, the city said “the petition was found insufficient as it did not meet the necessary requirements outlined in the charter.”

PREVIOUS STORY: Petition to recall San Benito city officials fails

Julian Rios, a San Benito resident and former city EDC board member, helped collect signatures for the petition.

“We as a community, and citizens, have a right to voice our concerns and have our concerns heard,” Rios said.

Rios is also suing the city for allegedly violating the Texas Open Meetings Act when calling for a recent charter election. The lawsuit resulted in a judge voiding the results of the charter election, a move the city said they’d challenge.

READ MORE: San Benito residents react to ruling that voids charter change election

Rios says he and others started collecting signatures because he felt the commission was not being open with the community.

According to San Benito's city charter, a petition to recall an elected official must be signed by at least 35% or 500 voters — whichever is greater — who actually voted in the election of the elected official in question. 

San Benito City Manager Fred Sandoval said due to the charter, the petitions to recall the mayor and city commissioners would each need a little over 700 signatures.

Sandoval says when the recall petitions were submitted, there were only about 300 signatures collected for each candidate.

The city says because the required number of signatures did not meet the requirement, the signatures were not verified individually.

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