McKinney recalls to proceed to the ballot after enough signatures verified, sources say

The city of McKinney is expected to announce Friday that organizers of a recall campaign against the mayor and three councilmembers gathered the signatures needed to proceed with an election, sources tell CBS News Texas.

The signatures of 7,400 registered voters were submitted to the city secretary's office in September. Since then, they have worked to verify enough that enough of them were valid to reach a threshold of 5,805. 

The officials who will face a recall election are Mayor Bill Cox and councilmembers Ernest Lynch, Justin Beller and Geré Feltus.

The recall petition drive began after the city council approved plans for a mosque to expand and build on its current property.

Organizers insist that the mosque was only one of several issues that the mayor and council approved while ignoring public opposition, pointing to the expansion of the airport and the planned Highway 380 bypass as examples. They say opponents are trying to portray the effort as an anti-Muslim campaign.

Former Mayor George Fuller, who opposes the recall effort, said that many people who signed the recall petitions did so believing it was to stop a mosque, but will change their minds once they learn all of the facts. 

"I have every confidence that McKinney residents will stand by the good councilmembers," he told CBS News Texas.