A recall effort has been started against Nantucket Select Chair Jason Bridges over a vote to choose a new fire chief. Petitioners are upset that they didn't appoint the Deputy Fire Chief to the position. Petitioners are focused on whether he circulated a letter to the public about a 15 day period to veto the appointment.
Petitioners first need 200 signatures and then a second petition with 20% of registered voters.
Update: The effort has been put on hold.
The recall effort against in Berrien County' Lakeshore Public School Board President Jason Beckrow and Secretary Rachel Wade has failed.
The recalls were part of a large group of efforts against Berrien County officials, all over board members support for mask policies designed to combat the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.
Petitioners needed 2156 valids for each. They handed in 2388 for Becrow and got 2052 valids and 2400 for Wade, with only 2019 found valids. Numerous people signed the wrong petition form (not the municipality that they are registered to vote in) and some of the addresses were filled out by someone else.
Update: A Judge rejected a lawsuit seeking to put the recall on the ballot.
Petitions have been taken out against Conroe Councilwoman Marsha Porter over her support the firing of the City Administrator and the resignation of the Director of Finance.
The wife of former Mayor Pro Tem Raymond McDonald is one of the leaders of the recall effort. McDonald lost his race to Councilman Howard Wood, who also supported the ouster.
Seems like petitioners would need over 1500 signatures in 45 days to get on the ballot (30% of turnout).
Petitions have been taken out against New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell over complaints about a failure to put New Orleans first. Petitioners need 53,353 signatures (20% of registered voters) in 180 days.
The California state legislature has passed a bill that will remove replacement races for local recall elections and replace it with the "Automatic Replacement" or Replace as by law" model. The legislators are focused on what they claim is hyperpartisanship. Presumably it would not impact charter cities that have their own laws. I'll have more to say on this soon, as I'm trying to place an op-ed on the subject.
No word if California Governor Gavin Newsom will sign the bill.
Some more stories from the failed recall effort against L.A. District Attorney George Gascon, including a UC Berkeley IGS poll suggesting that voters were in favor of the recall 41-20%.
There's also a column in the LA Daily News that focuses on the mysterious "canceled" category of failed signatures, noting that many of them were people who died or moved. The article argues that pruning of the voter rolls would have lessened the amount of signatures needed, which may have led the recall to succeed.
Petitions have been taken out for a recall of Millburn Township Committee members Maggee Miggins and Sanjeev Vinayak. The recall is over their support for a housing center that proponents say will greatly increase downtown traffic.
Petitioners need the signatures of 25% of registered voters to get on the ballot.
Petitions are being taken out against Colorado Springs Councilmembers Wayne Williams (R) and Stephannie Fortune. The recall is about claims of his relationship with developers.
Williams is the former Secretary of State and is running for Mayor.
The leader of the recall effort if the former treasurer for the El Paso County Republican Party, who has long fought with Williams. There seems to be internal battles in the GOP County Party. Williams has also appeared with Democratic Secretary of State Jena Griswold, who beat Williams in 2018, in an ad against election disinformation.
Petitioners need 24507 signatures for Williams and 4053 signatures for Fortune.
Update: The effort against Williams failed.
Two Shawano School Board Member Michael Sleeper (1958) and Chuck Dallas (1923) resigned after signatures were handed in. Petitioners handed in 1958 and 1923 signatures and needed 1829 valids. I'm not clear if the signatures were validated yet. The issues was complaints over a $2 Million deficit that could lead to closings/staff cuts. After some legal discussion, and the removal of the petitions following the resignations, there won't be a replacement vote.
Petitions are being taken out against Colorado State Senator Kevin Priola, who switched from Republican to Democrat earlier this week, though petitioners are citing his support for a gas tax and safe injection sites for drug users.
Petitioners would need 18,291 signatures in 60 days.
The Senate is safely Democratic (21-14) and Priola is term-limited. He barely won office in 2020, 50.84-49.16. Priola switched parties due to his opposition to Republican election denial and conspiracy theories. However, in true twist, the district that Priola was elected in (25) is more Democratic-leaning than the 13th district, which is where he is serving after redistricting. It is unclear where the recall would take place (and therefore who would sign) -- the old district lines or the new ones.
Republicans leaned heavily into recalls after their disastrous showings in 2018, though to no effect (none got on the ballot). Colorado did have two recalls which led to the removal of two Democratic Senators in 2013 over gun control laws.
Voters have used the recall against party flippers twice in the past (arguably three times). In 1995, California Assemblyman Paul Horcher was ousted over moving from Republican to Independent and voting for Willie Brown for Speaker. Assemblywoman Doris Allen also moved from the Republicans in the same year and had herself elected Speaker, which led to her ouster. While seen as a betrayal, I don't believe she actually left the party. And in 1981, Washington State Senator Peter Von Reichbauer switched from Democrat to Republican, which flipped control of the chamber. Von Reichbauer survived the recall vote.
Six Baker City Councilor, Joanna Dixon, Johnny Waggoner Sr., Dean Guyer, Kerry McQuisten, Shane Alderson and Jason Spriet, are facing recall threats over a decision to accept the City Manager's proposal to remove ambulance services from the fire department's job and cut fire department employees. A seventh councilor is ineligible until September 22.
Petitioner need 680 signatures.
Recall threats are being discussed against Shelby County Clerk Wanda Halbert over an office closure to catch up on work while Halbert is on vacation (Halbert only started in office 20 days ago). The county charter gives 6 month grace periods at both the beginning and the end of the term. Petitioners need 15% of registered voters, which appears to be 87,750 valid signatures.
There's a new push to recall Minister of Parliament Margaret Ferrier (a former SNP member), who recently pleaded guilty to violating COVID safety protocols during in 2020, after refusing to self isolate, going to church and a bar and then taking a train from Glasgow to London despite having the coronavirus (though she had not yet tested positive). She could face a recall vote if suspended for more than 10 days. Petitioner would need 8100 signatures to get on the ballot.
A lawsuit filed is seeking to remove 140 signatures from the Robertson Fire Protection District Board recall, which would be enough to kill the effort. One of the plaintiffs is the daughter of the fire chief (who is not a board member) who signed under what she said was false pretenses.
Board members Joan Noel, Becky Reinsmith, Mike Conley are facing a recall vote on November 8, after 630 signatures were verified for each. The board is blamed for putting Hazelwood near bankruptcy due to a "costly contract." Supporters of the board members claim that Hazelwood is trying to get out of the contract with the recalls. The issues listed include failure to lower costs, retaliation, failing to turn over public records and selling property for below market value.
Two years after he was kicked out of office in a recall, former Sebastian City Councilman Damien Gilliams, is running for office. There was two year ban after Gilliams was convicted of violating the Sunshine law.
Gilliams was one of three Sebastian City Council members kicked out in a recall that seems to have started over fights with the Mayor and other council members -- the three were elected on on a platform of opposition to an 1100 acre annexation plan last year. Gillams and Parris notably voted against the hiring of a new city attorney. They were also arrested for breaking the Sunshine Law and perjury for lying to investigators. The three members allegedly voted to fire the city staff and appoint Gilliams mayor in what investigators call an illegal meeting. The two allegedly lied under oath.
Eugene City Councilor Claire Syrett has filed a lawsuit to stop the upcoming recall election, claiming that signature gatherers lied about the basis of the recall. The recall effort is over her support for a traffic and public transit plan and the claim is that the vote was about further study. She is seeking $2500 in damages from the plaintiffs.
Petitioners handed in over 2000 signatures. They needed 1365. Haven't seen how many were rejected.
The recall effort against Nashville Councilmember Jonathan Hall failed. The recall was over campaign finance violations and penalties. Petitioners handed in 1498 signatures and needed needed 1800. The signatures were not actually counted as they didn't hit the limit.
The lead petitioner, Charles Scott, is running for the position in the next election.
While we already looked at the failure of the recall attempt against Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascon, there has been a number of articles and a prominent social media post putting forward a complaint about the clerk which suggests something untoward in the signature verification process. There have been some corrections, including a highly recommend Red State story a conservative site that backed the recall, which takes a scathing look at the failure of the recall effort and calls into question the complaints of petitioners. The Red State article alleges some level of actual fraud in signing the attestations and that the petitioners knew that they did not have enough signatures.
I guess I should revisit the numbers to show what seems to have happened.
27.3% of the signatures were tossed out -- 195,783 of the 715,833 signatures handed in (I'm not sure why 28% has been regularly cited as the number). So they missed by 46,807. They got 520,050 valids. They needed 566,857.
As noted before, the signature rejection rate was within the range of past California recalls, though on the higher end (Here's the link with the discussion). There was a 34% signature failure rate for LA Councilmember Mike Bonin and a 20% rejection rate for the recalls of the San Francisco District Attorney and the three San Francisco School Board members. Because of the available data, these are useful to look at for comparison purposes.
The rejections for the Gascon recall were as follows:
Not Registered -- 88,464 (12% of total handed in)
Duplications -- 43,593 (6%)
Different Address -- 32,187 (4%)
Mismatch signature -- 9,490 (1.3%)
Canceled -- 7,344 (1%)
Out of County Address -- 5,374 (.07%)
Other -- 9,331 (1.3%)
In the San Francisco recalls, the handed in 83,484 signatures, and sampled 4174 (I explain how this works here). In the D.A. Chesa Boudin recall, the breakdown was:
Approved -- 79% (3229 signatures)
Not Registered 13.2% (553)
No Signature 0% (2)
PO Box/Mailing Address -- .1% (4)
Printed Signatures .1% (3)
Registered Late -- .9% (39)
Signatures does not match 1.5% (62)
Wrong Address -- 4.8% (201)
Cannot identify .2% (7)
No Residence Address Given 0% (2)
Duplicates -- Signed more than once 0% (2)
Hopefully, we can see the big difference here. The not registered is very similar -- actually higher in San Francisco. The sheer number of duplicates here -- 43,593 is 6% of total signatures. There were only 2 duplicates in the SF DA sample. The school board samples were even better -- they had only one for all three combined recalls. This may point to issues the gatherers, as there was a lawsuit by the signature gathering company against the recall committee. The Red State article goes very deeply into this.
More objectionable, the pro-recall forces sent a note complaining about the standard for the recall and a "shockingly large" rejection rate, though they used a very odd comparison (ballots mailed out during past elections). These ballots were of course sent to registered voters. So there would be no problem with the non-register voters, out of district voters or duplicates. The failure rate of those signatures was similar with the election and recall.
This did not stop a false meme from spreading, a story amplified by Donald Trump Jr. among many others. But as we can see (and as the Red State story notes), the actual mismatched signatures were a small part of the Gascon recall failure.
The petitioners have criticized heavily for spending $8 million and not getting to the ballot (an upcoming Red State story promises a look at where the spending went). Some recent propositions (discussed towards the end) spent $6 million to get on the ballot, though they had the advantage of gathering signatures throughout the state. But even there, there was a significant failure rate.
The petitioners could have claimed a moral victory in gaining so many signatures -- this was vastly more signatures than ever handed in for a non-gubernatorial/LG recall in American history. The sheer number of signatures needed (more than against Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker in 2012 and nearly 10X that needed in San Francisco), was enough reason for it to fail. But instead, they decided to launch a baseless attack on the Clerk's office.
Follow-on article to the recall effort against Jersey City Councilwoman Amy DeGise after video was released of her hitting a cyclist in a hit-and-run accident.
The article notes that the high threshold for recalls, as petitioners would need 42,523 signatures to get the recall on the ballot. Because she is in her first year, the recall couldn't get on the ballot until January.
The recall effort against New Buffalo Mayor John Humphrey and Councilman Brian Flanagan has failed, with officials knocking out enough signatures to kill the recall. 294 signatures were handed in for Humphrey and 271 for Flanagan. At least 80 signatures were tossed out on each one and they needed 219 to get on the ballot. Petitioners said they would challenge the decision.
The issue was a vote in favor of a ordinance banning short-term rentals. Humphrey is also facing a petition over having someone kicked out of a council meeting.
The recall effort against La Marque Mayor Keith Bell has made the ballot for Election Day in November. Can't open the article, but it seems that he is facing a recall effort over complaints over what may be campaign finance issues.
Update: Here's some more details. Petitioners got 543 valid signatures (51% of turnout). The accusations are a kitchen sink of verbal abuse and corruption.
Gabriela Lopez, who was ousted as the San Francisco School Board President in the February recall, announced that she is running for a seat on the board in the November elections.
Norman voters are casting ballots on a proposition that would change recall laws following the 2020 attempts. It would add a grace period six months before the end of the term (there is currently a grace period in the first six months). It would also handle the quorum challenge of having too many officials kicked out at once, by letting a majority vote prevail if more than four councilors are kicked out. It would also let the councilors call an election for a recall vacancy.
Berea Councilmember Leon Dozier's recall has been scheduled for September 13. The issue seems to be complaints of a lack of responsiveness and problems with flooding. 70 signatures were handed in.
The recall effort against Los Angeles District Attorney has failed, with 28% of the signatures being tossed out -- 195,783 of the 715,833 signatures handed in. So they missed by 46,807 (520,050 valids. They needed 566,857.
As noted before, the signature rejection rate was within the range of past California recalls, though on the higher end (I won't repeat all the details -- here's the link with the discussion).
What is perhaps noteworthy is the sheer number of duplicates here -- 43,593, 6% of total signatures. All four of the San Francisco recalls saw negligible duplication rates. This may point to issues the gatherers, as there was a lawsuit by the signature gathering company against the recall committee.
The pro-recall forces sent a note complaining about the standard for the recall and a "shockingly large" rejection rate, though they used a very odd comparison (ballots mailed out last year). As we can see below, the actual mismatched signatures were a small part of this. The largest tranche of rejected signatures, as in SF was not registered voters.
The rejections were as follows:
Not Registered -- 88,464
Duplications -- 43,593
Different Address -- 32,187
Mismatch signature -- 9,490
Canceled -- 7,344
Out of County Address -- 5,374
Other -- 9,331
I'm not sure what the "canceled" category is, though I wonder if it could be a signature strike counter petition.
It is not clear if there will be a lawsuit or what that lawsuit could be based on. The reasons for rejection really limit the options.
The question of why the recall failed is already being discussed. The sheer number of signatures needed (more than against Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker in 2012 and nearly 10X that needed in San Francisco) should be at the top of the list.
Signatures have been handed in against School Board members in Berrien County. Niles Community School Board President Mark Wortham, Trustee Kyle Zelmer and Trustee David Fink, Lakeshore Public School Board President Jason Beckrow and Secretary Rachel Wade, and St. Joseph's Trustee Kathy Weykamp and Trustee Brett Wier. All recall were over board members support for mask policies designed to combat the spread of the coronavirus pandemic. The Niles signatures have been rejected already as not having enough valid signatures due to errors on the form. Petitioners claim they got 17,600 signatures since July, though the numbers are not broken down individually
Petitioners handed in 2388 for Becrow and 2400 for Wade. They need 2156 valids.
They handed in 2590 for Weykamp and 2580 for Wier. They need 2498 valids.
Signatures were not turned in by the deadline against Watervilet School Board President Bill Spaulding.
Petitions have been rejected against Flint School Board of Education Chair Joyce Ellis-McNeal and Treasurer Laura McIntyre over unclear language.
The petitions focused on a complaint filed by former board member Anita Steward over racial discrimination.
Petitions were previously filed against Ellis-McNeal over claims of violating policy by voting to reopen contracts. It is not clear who originated the recall. Ellis-McNeal only became the president recently, after previous president Danielle Green was charged with assaulting another board member during a meeting.
Signatures have been validated against East Cleveland Mayor Brandon King, with petitioners handing in 322 valid signatures and needing 311. The election would likely be on Election Day, November 8.
Petitioners claim that King used the police to target his Democratic primary opponents in 2021 for towing a van he was using to promote another candidate using loudspeakers.
King has been mayor since 2016 when the last mayor, Gary Norton, was kicked out in a recall with the council president, Thomas Wheeler.
Virginia Beach School Board members Carolyn Rye, Trenace Riggs, Jessica Owens, Dottie Holtz, Kimberly Melnyk and Beverly Anderson are being targeted in a recall effort over the votes for procedures to combat the spread of the coronavirus pandemic. Five school board members are not listed, one of whom, Victoria Manning, is actually listed as part of the leadership of the pro-recall group.
Petitioners claim they need between 12,000-30,000 signatures. This recall would not go to the ballot, but would be decided by a judge under Virginia's recall trial law.
Signatures were handed in against Isle of Wright School Board Member Michael Vines over accusations of defamatory remark with a fellow board member. This was during a fight over a promotion of a staffer to a new Deputy Superintendent position. Vines also seemed to attack the non-native county members and is accused of leaving information off disclosure forms. Petitioners handed in 214 and need 172 signatures.
Vines was appointed as a replacement last year, so his seat was up for a vote in November regardless. Virginia's recall trial law would require a judge to decide whether Vines keeps the position.
Former Police Commissioner John Hamasaki is running in the San Francisco District Attorney replacement race to replace Chesa Boudin, who was ousted in a recall vote (Police Commissioner is an appointment Supervisor position. The head of the department is the Chief).
Current D.A. Brooke Jenkins, who was appointed to temporarily replace Boudin by Mayor London Breed, is now under fire over accepting $100,000 as a consultant for a group that helped push for the recall.
Marshall School Board President Richard Lindsey has resigned in the face of a recall effort (though Lindsey claims it had nothing to do with the resignation). Lindsey was on the board for 13 years.
Petitions language was approved against Marshall School Board members Lindsey, Matt Davis and Shawna Gamble over a failed bond measure and a violation of an open meeting act and complaints of conflict interest (as Lindsey was an attorney for Albion College). Petitioners need to get 2457 signatures to get on the ballot.
The petitions were taken out by former Albion Mayor David Atchison, who faced recall petitions during his term.
The lead petitioners in the recall of Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon are complaining about the procedures for signature verification. Petitioners claim that the 22% rejection rate is "shockingly large" which they oddly compare to a 2% rejection for vote by mail ballots, which are of course different. The problem is that (based on the SF recall efforts) most of the signatures are rejected because the voters are not registered or give a wrong address. The 22% signature failure rate is not that unusual based on past recall efforts.
There is some pushes for changes to Virginia's recall law, with progressives looking to raise the signature requirement for recalls to 30% of turnout and try to tighten the malfeasance standard to make it harder to get on the ballot. The proposal would have gotten rid of the odd recall trial law, so a recall would be much more likely to succeed. Republican recall proponents are looking to make it easier, though it is not clear that there are any efforts to get rid of the malfeasance standard.
Signatures have been handed in for the recall of New Buffalo Mayor John Humphrey and Councilman Brian Flanagan. 294 were handed in for Humphrey and 271 for Flanagan. Petitioners need 219 to get on the ballot. The issue was a vote in favor of a ordinance banning short-term rentals. Humphrey is also facing a petition over having someone kicked out of a council meeting.
Here's my op-ed in the Hill looking at the unlikelihood of the Georgia D.A. recall, as well as why it may help Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis.
Two Harbors Mayor Chris Swanson has been ousted in a recall vote, with early results showing more than 86% of the vote against him, 1149-180. This seems to be the first recall removal since Minnesota adopted a malfeasance standard recall in 1996 (a recall in Tracy in 2017 saw an official survive. Other officials have resigned in the face a recall vote).
The recall was seemingly over claims that Swanson, in his second term, used a podcast to discuss an underwater hotel in Lake Superior, thereby using his title as mayor to attract investors, and plans to fund city projects with cryptocurrency. This was seen as using this for his own business dealings. Swanson, who was one of six Democratic mayors to back Trump in the 2020 election, recently admitted that he was sentenced to probation for sexual abuse as a teenager.
Petitioners handed in 618 signatures and have 532 valids, they needed 498.
Petitioners previously gathered signatures, claiming they had 970 signatures for the recall, but they pulled those petitions over a lawsuit that would have removed the anonymity for any signers. The suit sought to require the signatures be revealed.
There was a separate suit by a Republican County official asking the recall to be tossed out over Minnesota's strict malfeasance standard/judicial recall rules, which has led nearly all petitions (but one!) that I've seen have been rejected at that stage. The City Attorney wrote an opinion that he used the position for personal benefit, which could allow them to overcome the malfeasance standard. Interesting provision in the charter -- if there are less than two years in the term, the council appoints a replacement. If there are more, than there is a special election. In this case, there will be a replacement appointed. A district court judge threw out an attempt to toss the recall.
Jersey City Councilwoman Amy DeGise is being pushed to resign or face a recall attempt after a hit-and-run accident.
Petitioners would need 42,523 signatures to get the recall on the ballot. Because she is in her first year, the recall couldn't get on the ballot until January.
The lead petitioner in the recall effort against Woodland Park RE-2 School Board President David Rusterholtz, Vice President David Illingworth II and Director Suzanne Patterson was arrested on charges of making a false police report. The petitioner, Samantha Peck, called and claimed that Illingworth's wife was getting into a car drunk with a small child.
The petitions over complaints about approving a charter for a new Academy in the district. The claims include violations of open meeting laws.
Petitioners need about 3000 signatures each by the end of July.
Petitions have been filed against British Columbia (Vernon-Monashee) MLA Harwinder Sandhu over complaints about her support for policies put in place to combat the coronavirus pandemic. Petitioners need 21,268 signatures by October 11. Unlike in the US, there is a strict $37,046.52 spending limit for both sides. Additionally, the petitions automatically vacate the seat, resulting in a by-election, which the official can run in (easier than many recalls in the US, where and absolute majority is needed to win the vote).
The article notes that 26 recall petitions have been taken out since 1995, though there have been no recall elections held. Only six have been turned in with signatures. Five failed to get enough signatures, and the MLA resigned during the verification process in the sixth.
Petitions are being taken out against Lakota School Board Member Darbi Boddy is facing. Boddy, who was elected last year, has focused on complaints about teaching Critical Race Theory and LGBTQ lessons, though officials and other board members have claimed that it is not taught in the district.
Petitioners need 6751 valid signatures, though it sounds like a court (Butler County Common Pleas Court) would decided on whether she would remain, which sounds like Virginia's Recall Trial law.
Petitioners have apparently collected enough signatures to get the recall of La Marque Mayor Keith Bell on the ballot. It seems to be over campaign finance issues. Hopefully, we'll have some more info soon.
The recall election has been scheduled against Johnstown Mayor Chip Dutcher and City Council President Marvin Block for August 30. The recall will cost about $15,000.
The recall is over claims that they pressured the former police chief to fire the court clerk/police dispatcher. The chief has filed a complaint against Block. The police chief has been fired (there is also claims that he claimed the police chief and finance director where in an "inappropriate relationship.") The campaign is called the "Chip off the old Block." Block argues that the recall is over a goal from proponents to preserve the "rural feel" rather than growing.
The petitions were first rejected by the City Clerk over claims that petitioners could not start gathering signatures, because the six month grace period at the start of a term had not started. The petitioners claim that the law didn't specify that it needs a new term (they are both on their second term). This does not sound like a winning argument and the clerk felt the same way.
Petitioners handed in 305 for Dutcher and 332 for Block, and apparently got about 140 valids each. They needed 95 valids.
Petitions have been taken out against Pocatello City Council member Roger Bray, Claudia Ortega and Chris Stevens over complaints about belligerent behavior. There seems to be complaints over spending and behavior (with one claim that it's like North Korea) and racially insensitive comments.
Petitioners would need about 6000 signatures in 75 days.
Former San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin is not running for election in the replacement race to replace himself in November. Boudin said that he is not running due to a desire to "put my family first."
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis is facing a potential recall effort over her investigation into Donald Trump's attempt to overthrow the 2020 elections. Petitioners would need more than 240,000 signatures to get a recall on the ballot.
Georgia is a Malfeasance Standard/Judicial Recall state and (absent a particularly partisan review or an Alaska Supreme Court-like decision) is unlikely to approve a recall effort. However, the article claims it will be used to attack her as ignoring crime rates and damage the jury pool. They may want to read up on the recall boomerang effect here. Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene rewetted a recall note and Home Depot former Chairman Bernard Marcus has been a funder of the early efforts.
Cedar Grove School Board member Chrissy Dye has resigned after a recall was scheduled for Election Day. Dye, who was in her fourth term, faced a recall over complaints about a survey over gender identity. Petitioners handed in 3032 signatures and needed about 2802 (the article doesn't specify how many were valid).
Petitioners are not being allowed to monitor the signature review process in the recall effort of Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascon because it is not considered an election. This is part of the argument that recalls are ballot measures not elections (which therefore allows for unlimited campaign donations), though the replacement races are elections. Ballot measures themselves are not open to public inspection.
Signatures have been handed in against Winfield Township Supervisor Phyllis Larson, Clerk Colleen Stebbins and Trustee John Black over complaints about ordnances dealing with wind and solar energy. There are debates over the publication of public notices in a weekly paper and whether publishing only in a weekly shopper that doesn't have online publication counts.
There was also a recall effort against Treasurer Cathy Killinger and Trustee Steve Cole, though it is not clear what happened with those.
The solar ordinance lost a referendum vote in Tuesday's primary.
Petitions have been taken out against Steamboat Springs Councilmembers Heather Sloop, Joella West and Dakotah McGinlay, which is seemingly tied to a 9% tax on short term rentals (there is a repeal referendum against the law as well). Petitioners need about 1000 signatures each (10% of turnout) to get on the ballot.
The recall election of Eugene City Councilor Claire Syrett is moving forward, as enough signatures have been validated. The recall effort is over her support for a traffic and public transit plan.
Petitioners handed in over 2000 signatures. They needed 1365. Haven't seen how many were rejected.
Update: Syrett will not resign and has criticized the recall effort.
Only one person asked to have their signatures removed from the petitions to remove Buffalo School Board member Sonya Hutchison. Petitioners have handedin 122 signatures, and 104 validated. They needed 79. The issue was a search for a new superintendent and claims that Hutchison went "rogue" which caused one candidate to withdraw.
The last recall election in Logan County was in 1980, when county assessor Woodrow Brown was removed and replaced by Nancy Wood. This was a two day-two step recall.
Update: The recall vote has been scheduled for November 8..
Malaysia is considering a law to allow recalls of party-switchers and "non-functioning or problematic representatives."
A petition gathering company called Let the Voters Decide has sued the committee pushing for the recall of Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon for $469,569 over unpaid bills. The company was hired to get 400,000 signatures at a 75% validation rate (300,000 valids) by May 4.
The lawsuit allegeds that the committee refused refused to pay market rate for signatures collectors.
Petitions have been taken out against all five Port of Alsea Board of Commissioners members, Robin Bishop, Janice Power, Joe Rohleder, Chuck Pavlik and Buster Pankey over a decision to end a lease for the "Shrimp Daddy" bait and tackle shop. There were also complaints about the Port manager.
Petitioners would need 673 valid signatures to get to the ballot.
The lead petitioner, Kurt Saindon, had previously filed petitions against Governor Kate Brown in 2020, but never handed in signatures.
Signatures have been handed in against two Shawano School Board Member Michael Sleeper (1958) and Chuck Dallas (1923). Petitioners need 1829 valids. The issues is complaints over a $2 Million deficit that could lead to closings/staff cuts.
The recall effort against Oakdale Mayor Gene Paul failed. The recall was over revelations that the city clerk stole $897,000. The clerk has since died.
Petitioners needed 934 signatures (33 1/3rd of registered voters) in 180 days. Petitioners claim to have received over 600 -- they previously claimed to be only 350 signatures away from hitting the mark, though it sounds like none were handed in.
La Marque Mayor Keith Bell is facing a recall effort over complaints over what may be campaign finance issues. Hopefully, we'll find out more info soon.
Nashville Councilmember Jonathan Hall is facing a recall effort over campaign finance violations and penalties. Petitioners need about 2500 signatures by August 14. Hall claims health issues. The recent redistricting causes some issues, as the election would be held under the old district lines
The lead petitioner, Charles Scott, is running for the position in the next election and would not appear on the November ballot.
