A McKinney city councilman who was appointed last month has learned he actually lives outside the district he represents, and the city council will have to appoint another person to fill the seat.
Chris Thornton, associate pastor at Mt. Pilgrim Baptist Church was appointed after La'Shadion Shemwell was recalled by voters last month. Shemwell was recalled after he called for a "Black state of emergency" over the deaths of Atatiana Jefferson and Botham Jean. He was stopped for speeding May 8 and accused the officer of racial profiling.
Shemwell was censured and apologized to police. Last month, 72% of voters approved his recall.
The McKinney City Council appointed Thornton to take Shemwell's place. Tuesday night, Thornton told the council he had learned he actually lives across the street from the boundary for District One.
"Because of that fact, I cannot represent District One," he said. "But I would like to say what this did for me was motivate me to get more involved."
Thornton says redistricting actually put his home ten feet, ten inches from the edge of District One.
"I hate that I cannot represent District One," he said. "But who knows? You may see my name in the future, and we will see where this journey leads to."
"An unforced error, if you will," McKinney Mayor George Fuller said in an interview Wednesday morning. "If you were to ask anybody in that district who is a guy that's involved and entrenched in the community and a worker in the community. When I say a worker, I mean helping people in that community, they would all tell you that's Chris Thornton. That's a far cry from, maybe, representation they've had in the past."
Fuller says the council will vote next Monday on a replacement for Thornton. Fuller says the McKinney City Council will appoint Angela Richardson-Woods to serve the rest of the term.
Richardson-Woods is currently treasurer for the McKinney Community Development Corporation.
"She is in the community, in District one, verified," Fuller says. "It's about, 'Are you engaged in the community? Do you care about the community? Do you want to serve the community?' Those things, Angela has exemplified for years."
Fuller says Richardson-Woods does not intend to run when the District One seat is up for election in May, so that will ensure no one has an unfair advantage.
