Arizona: Payson Mayor recall gets on the ballot

Payson Mayor Tom Morrissey will be on the ballot, with petitioners handing in over 770 signatures. They claimed to have submitted 974 signatures -- they need 770.

There are also recall attempts against Councilmembers Suzy Tubbs-Avakian, Janell Sterner and Jim Ferris over their votes to  fire a town manager and spend and transparency issues.

Opponents of the recall are claiming that the non-recall facing councilmembers "voted against God, out taxpayers at risk in supporting a $43 million prep school project and are trying to bring Chinese and Canadian immigrant students to town to claim taxpayer-funded benefits." Morrisey has said he has nothing to do with the flyer.

In addition, Councilman Steve Smith is now facing petitions over claims that he causes discord at meetings.

Smith was appointed to the seat in a controversial move -- the appointment in between the election for the rest of the council and their inauguration, so there was debate over who should have made the appointment. Smith has since opposed Morrissey and other council members, including filing open meeting violations claims.

Petitioners need 1638 signatures to get the other three recalls on the ballot. Petitioners claim they have over 900 signatures for Ferris, Sterner and Tubbs-Avakia.

Update: The Mayor is suing to stop the recall, though the date has been set by the clerk