KILLEEN, Texas (KXXV) — Killeen City chambers saw a full house on Tuesday as the City Council voted to add the recall of District 4 representative Michael Boyd to the May 3rd ballot. The vote passed 5-1, with Boyd himself voting in favor. The only dissenting vote came from Councilwoman Nina Cobb.
Boyd, who referred to himself as “one of the most productive and influential city councilmembers the city has seen,” criticized the media coverage of the recall effort. He called the coverage by the Killeen Daily Herald "hazardous" and "tabloid-like."
"With the city hall reporter's seemingly close relationship with the petitioner, coverage of this recall has become increasingly biased and unbalanced," Boyd said.
The recall petition was filed by former City Council-member and unsuccessful mayoral candidate Melissa Brown on July 26, 2024. It required 202 signatures from qualified electors in District 4 but gathered 341 signatures. After review, 218 signatures were deemed qualified.
Brown cited Boyd's lack of respect for citizens and failure to follow the city's 2040 Comprehensive Plan as the main reasons for the recall.
"To say that I was disappointed in Councilman Boyd and astounded by the audacity of him sitting on the dais and saying what he did would be an understatement," Brown said.
Boyd responded to the petition by calling its claims "vague" and "subjective." He also criticized Brown as a "disgruntled, unelectable former council member with a history of making unsubstantiated claims to the public and filing a frivolous lawsuit against a city council member."
In response to Boyd's claims of vague reasoning, a specific incident Brown referenced in speaking with 25 News involved two Killeen mothers whose children were killed while trying to cross Elms Road near downtown Killeen in December 2023.
Brown claims that Boyd told the mothers he would "try to work something into the next budget to take care of it." However, at the next budget meeting, she said Boyd prioritized putting parks in District 4 instead.
Brown defended the petition, stating, "I think he proved my point about disrespecting citizens last night. Whether he likes me or not, whether I'm a former councilwoman or not, I'm a citizen of the city of Killeen. It's an insult to them, to everyone who signed that petition, for him to say they only signed it because they were misled."
The upcoming recall election in May will determine Boyd's future on the City Council.
