WATCH LIVE: Group speaks out against Harker Heights City Council overturning Proposition A

HARKER HEIGHTS, Texas (KWTX) - The group that helped decriminalize low levels of marijuana in Killeen and Harker Heights is now back on the ground to rally voters after the Harker Heights city council overturned Proposition A.

WATCH LIVE: Group speaks out against Harker Heights City Council overturning Proposition A

With just nine days left to collect 350 signatures from registered Harker Heights voters, the organization called “Ground Game Texas” hosted an event on Saturday to collect signatures for a petition to overturn the council ordinance.

On Nov. 8 Harker Heights voters overwhelmingly passed Proposition A, which decriminalized possession of up to 4 ounces of marijuana. Then at the Nov. 22 Harker Heights City Council meeting, the council voted to pass an ordinance to overturn Proposition A.

After that, Ground Game Texas announced plans to collect signatures for a referendum to overturn the ordinance that overturned Proposition A.

Robert Henderson attended Ground Game Texas’s event at Carl Levin Park and said he was disappointed to see the council overturn Proposition A.

“That was offensive to me,” Henderson said, after signing the petition. “In a democratic system it’s based on the majority, not the small percentage.”

For veteran Maurice Little the issue is personal and it’s why he signed the petition.

“Personally, I have PTSD and tinnitus that rings really bad,” he said. “So I believe that marijuana can be beneficial to us health-wise.”

Ground Game Texas co-founder Julie Oliver said the goal is to show the council that the voters do not agree with their decision.

“We want to have a very strong showing that people don’t like the vote that city council took,” she said.

If the referendum gets enough signatures the council can vote to either adopt Proposition A or send it back to voters, according to city charter rules.

Assistant city manager Jerry Bark released a statement to KWTX News 10 that if and when the city is presented a referendum petition, the city “will process the document as identified within our charter.”

The Killeen City Council last voted to move discussions on Proposition A to the next council meeting on Dec. 6. The measure will not go into effect there until the council can further discuss it.

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