Rudy’s Manager Gives Different Account of McKinney Recall Event Cancellation

By R.J. Morales | TX3DNews

McKINNEY, Texas — When a planned McKinney recall petition event at Rudy’s was canceled Sunday, supporters pointed to opponents calling locations and pressuring businesses where signatures were being collected.

TX3DNews called Rudy’s Monday to ask what happened. A manager acknowledged the restaurant received calls from people with differing opinions but said the reservation was canceled after Rudy’s learned the gathering was political.

Rudy’s Says It Was Booked as a Private Gathering

A manager at Rudy’s told TX3DNews the restaurant was initially told the reservation was for a small private gathering involving only a few people. She said management was not told it was connected to an effort to recall four members of the McKinney City Council.

The manager said management learned about the recall effort after the gathering began being promoted publicly online.

She said Rudy’s allows private gatherings such as birthdays and meetings but does not host political events. Once management learned what the gathering was, she said, the reservation was canceled.

The manager confirmed Rudy’s received calls from people with different viewpoints about the planned gathering, including people who supported it and others who did not. She maintained that the reservation was canceled because management learned the gathering was political and Rudy’s does not host political events.

TX3DNews has asked Rudy’s corporate office whether the prohibition on political events is a companywide policy or one established at the restaurant level.

Organizers Said Opponents Were Pressuring Locations

On Sunday, recall supporter Ashley Marie offered a different explanation publicly.

“If you’re against the recall, that’s fine,” she wrote on X. “But calling around to the places where we’ll be gathering signatures & pressuring the owners until they decide we can no longer be there is honestly immature.”

She then announced that the planned Rudy’s location had been canceled.

The post did not say what callers allegedly told Rudy’s or whether anyone at the restaurant told recall supporters that the calls caused the cancellation.

Later Sunday, Ashley announced that signatures would instead be collected at Bonnie Wenk Park in McKinney.

Campaign Last Reported About 50 Signatures

The recall effort is targeting Mayor Bill Cox and council members Ernest Lynch, Geré Feltus and Justin Beller.

Around midday Saturday, the McKinney Recall campaign website showed approximately 50 signatures collected. The website no longer displays a running total. When asked publicly about the current count, TX3DNews was directed to contact organizers, who did not respond to a request for an updated number.

The campaign continues advertising signing locations, including a private residence in McKinney and a business in Farmers Branch.

A separate Change.org petition has more than 700 supporters, but those online signatures do not count toward the official recall. McKinney’s charter requires official petitions to be returned within 45 days with signatures from qualified McKinney voters equal to at least 30% of the votes cast in the last regular municipal election, with a minimum of 1,000.

The Recall Goes Beyond One Council Vote

The recall campaign emerged in the days following the council’s contentious Aug. 5 meeting over a proposed Islamic center, where the council approved the site plan 7-0. City staff said the religious use was permitted under existing zoning and the plan met city requirements.

The campaign’s stated reasons for recalling the four officials extend beyond that vote, including disputes over the McKinney National Airport project, city spending and transparency.

Under McKinney’s Home Rule Charter, the City Secretary reviews recall petitions to determine whether they contain enough valid signatures and comply with charter requirements. If a petition is found sufficient, the targeted official is notified. If the official does not resign within five days, the City Council must order a citywide recall election under state law.