Some further stories on the Oakland Mayor Sheng Tao recall effort, including that the petitioners don't have any favorite in a potential replacement race (or appointment, then a race) if the recall gets to the ballot.
I would like to see if there is any thought of a counter-petition, as the state's signature strike law is in effect.
The lawsuit that is attempting to undue the 2011 law that bans public workers collective bargaining (and was part of the impetus for the Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker + Lt Gov + 13 state Senators recall efforts) is being heard by Dane County Circuit Judge Jacob Frost, who signed the recall petition. At the time, Frost was a private lawyer (he was only appointed in 2020).
The June 4th recall of Anaheim City Council member Natalie Rubalcava appears to be another union vs. union fight, based on the spending. The Unite Here union, which has been fighting for a $25 minimum wage, spent $315,000 to get the recall on the ballot and have poured in another $350,000 for the battle.
But on the other side, the Construction Unions have put in $50,000, the Police $25,000 and firefighters $7.500 in support of Rubalcava. The Orange County Employees Association and the Anaheim Municipal Employees Association both threw in $10,000. There has been $730,000 raised in her defense.
Petitioners handed in 9118 signatures, they needed 5123. The clerk checked 7693 and found 5131 valids (presumably they stopped once they were over the line), so a 66.7% valid rate.
The recall was started after a public corruption investigation report was released. The corruption claim is based on a chamber of commerce created data mining operation that allegedly gave Rubalcava a list of names and contact info taken from community outreach groups. She is also accused of giving operational direction to city staff rather than the city manager. Rubalcava was elected in 2022, and Support our Anaheim Resort, a Disney PAC, was a big supporter.
Recall efforts are being threatened against two Estes Park Town Board members, Mayor Pro Tem Marie Cenac and Trustee Kirby Hazelton. The other board members are still in a six month grace period and are not subject to the recall. The article does not note the reasons for the recall effort.
Estes Park had a recall in 2019.
Petitions have been taken out against Helena-West Helena Mayor Christopher Franklin over a "profanity-laden" video call with his daughter and niece. The city council unanimously (6-0) called for him to resign.
Petitioners have turned in over 9000 signatures for the recall Assembly Speaker Robin Vos. If it gets on the ballot, Vos could be facing the dual recall + reelection on the same day. Michigan Speaker Andy Dillion did that in 2008 (surviving both).
Petitioners, led by former Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman, are taking their second recall effort -- last time they handed in 11000.
Vos, a long-time fixture of this blog, is facing the recall over his refusal to support Trump during the attempt to overthrow the 2020 election results and the decision to drop impeachment efforts against Wisconsin's Election Commission Chair Meagan Wolfe as she has refused to push for the discredited claims of election fraud.
Vos almost lost in 2022 after refusing to back the election fraud claims. Gableman, who has previously targeted Vos (after Vos appointed him to head a committee looking at fraud), had called for his recall if he didn't support the impeachment of Wolfe.
The first recall effort failed, with the Wisconsin Election Commission announcing that the recall would have failed under either his new or old district (see below for a discussion).
The petitioners needed 6850 under the old district, and they got only 4989. In the new district, they needed 7195 and got 3053. The Wisconsin Supreme Court refused to rule on which district counted. They apparently handed in 11000.
The Daily Kos has a good explanation for the challenge of deciding what district Vos is a part of (this is after the old districts were tossed out by the State Supreme Court).
Final numbers are in and three of the four Elsie-Vinemaple Rural Fire Protection District Board members lost their recall votes, with Chair Vivian McCann (201-165) and members Staciy Morrison (192-173) and Wayne Carmichael (191-175) all ousted. Thomas Hecox (181-184) survived by three votes.
The recall was over a vote to remove the fire chief. Turnout was 52%.
One new member (Ed Van Dyke) was appointed by the County Commissioners so the board would have a quorum, and then the rest of the board would be able to appoint the other two members.
The recall election against Falcon Highlands Metropolitan District Board Members Erin Ganaway, Leo Schuhmacher and Tom Dickey has made the ballot, with a special election set to be held (by mail-in ballot) on July 16.
The issue is groundwater flooding and claims of conflict of interest with developers.
Petitioners handed in over 400 signatures. Ainsley Sinclaire and Angelinda Rush are challenging Ganaway, Bob Aamodt and Cory Nyugen are going for Shuhmacher's seat and Curtis Fletcher is challenging Dickey.
Petitioners are claiming that they have enough signatures to get the recall of Oakland Mayor Sheng Tao on the ballot.
They claim they have over 30,000 and are looking to hand in over 40,000 (which would match the amount of votes she received in the first round of her election) and need 24,638.
The big issue has been crime. Tao has fired the Oakland Police Chief and rejected three possible replacements proposed by a committee. One of the leaders of the recall effort is Alameda County Judge Brenda Harbin-Forte, who served on the Police Commission and was removed by Tao.
Oakland uses state law for the recall, which kicks the replacement decision back to the city -- and we have an interesting wrinkle in the replacement provision (Section 303), which works like this:
If the mayor is removed, the President of the Council fills the position. If it is over a year (as it is here), there is a special election within 120 days, with a potential extension of 90 days to tie it into a regularly scheduled election. They will use ranked choice.
The wrinkle is that City Council President Nikki Fortunato Bas is running for Alameda County Supervisor and she came in first in the top two race. If Fortunato Bas wins that race on November 5 (which would be the same day as the recall) and the recall succeeds, she presumably would serve as Mayor until January, when she would be replaced by... another council member? So, we may be looking at four mayors in a short time frame.
The recall effort against State Senator Aisha Wahab (D), based in Fremont, failed, with petitioners not handing in signatures. They claim that the petition-gatherers failed to sign a declaration though the Secretary of State's office said that it was not at the moment a fatal defect. Petitioners claimed that they got over 30,000 signatures, but needed 42,802, so that was a somewhat more significant problem.
The leader of the effort seems to be Ritesh Tandon, who has lost races in 2020, 2022 and 2024.
The recall seems to be about Wahab's bill that attempted to outlaw caste discrimination (the bill was vetoed by Governor Gavin Newsom). The website lists a kitchen sink of complaints, but the caste discrimination bill seems to be her most notable moment. The petitioners are claiming that they will go out again based on the kitchen sink of complaints.
Petitions have been taken out against Los Banos Councilmembers Brett Jones and Douglas Begonia.
Petitions claim that the recall is over a decision to rehire a fired city manager, raise the base pay and settle a $1.8 million lawsuit filed by the manager. There's also questions of the departure of staffers. Jones and Begonia blame a developer for leading the effort.
There are recall threats against Clinton Township Trustee Donna Hochstetler by "anti-industrial solar advocates." Hochstetler (and the other two trustees) have been neutral on the subject.
Petitioners would need 132 signatures to get on the ballot.
Petitions have been taken out against San Benito Health Care District Director Josie Sanchez.
Petitioner has been opposed to the Hazel Hawkins Memorial Hospital administration (which has been through bankruptcy). The petitioner, Rob Bernosky, was a Republican candidate for California Secretary of State in 2022 midterms.
Petitioner needs 2190 valid signatures in 90 days.
The recall effort against four Chester Utility District Board members Kimberly Green, Steve Voboril, Arthur Tharpe and Steve Graffweg failed. Petitioners needed 346 signatures. Petitioners handed in more than that, but has stated that the county tossed out a good number based on registrations. Voboril got 343, Tharpe got 341, Green got 337, and Graffweg got 225.
The issues was a complaint of a $1.2 million deficit and the elimination of ambulance and fire services.
A split vote in the Mineral Wells, with Mayor Pro Tem Doyle Light ousted in a May 4 recall vote, 169-109, but councilmembers Carlos Maldonado (193-257) and Jerrel Tomlin (159-200) surviving. The recall is over a water rate hike, which is designed to build a reservoir for the area.
Of particular interest is that Tomlin, like Michigan Assembly Speaker Andy Dillon back in 2008, was on the ballot twice, running for reelection and to survive the recall. Tomlin won the regular election, 183-174, so a much closer vote and a drop in support for Tomlin.
The City also adopted a law to tie the recall to a regularly scheduled (uniform) election date.
The leader of the recall, Ron Davis, ran for mayor but lost (764-1099).
Petitions have been taken out against Seaside City Councilor Steve Dillard over his proposal for age restrictions on library books.
Petitioners need 112 signatures in 90 days.
Petitions have been filed against Big Bend Village Board President Jeff Goodman and trustees Larry Long and Ellen Cole. The petition focuses on Open Meeting law violations, though it looks like the issue was a vote to eliminate the police department and use the Waukesha County Sheriff's Department instead. There is also mention that Goodman wanted his house to be detached and become part of the Village of Vernon, which he is apparently looking to do for either better EMS services or to pay less in taxes. If that is approved, he would be forced to resign.
Goodman survived a recall in 2018 over entering fire and water contract negotiations without the village president or clerk/treasurer present.
Petitioners, led by former Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman, are claiming that they will soon hand in signatures for a second recall effort against Assembly Speaker Robin Vos.
Vos, a long-time fixture of this blog, is facing the recall over his refusal to support Trump during the attempt to overthrow the 2020 election results and the decision to drop impeachment efforts against Wisconsin's Election Commission Chair Meagan Wolfe as she has refused to push for the discredited claims of election fraud.
Vos almost lost in 2022 after refusing to back the election fraud claims. Gableman, who has previously targeted Vos (after Vos appointed him to head a committee looking at fraud), had called for his recall if he didn't support the impeachment of Wolfe.
The first recall effort failed, with the Wisconsin Election Commission announcing that the recall would have failed under either his new or old district (see below for a discussion).
The petitioners needed 6850 under the old district, and they got only 4989. In the new district, they needed 7195 and got 3053. The Wisconsin Supreme Court refused to rule on which district counted. They apparently handed in 11000.
Petitioners have launched another recall effort.
The Wisconsin Election Commission previously announced that the first recall will not make the ballot, as petitioners seem to have fallen 945 signatures short.
The Daily Kos has a good explanation for the challenge of deciding what district Vos is a part of (this is after the old districts were tossed out by the State Supreme Court).
A new effort to recall Lamont Elementary School Board Trustees Gilberto Lopez Jr., Pablo Trevino, Ernesto Garay and Evelyn Velasquez is set to hand in signatures. Petitioners announced that they have over 1220 signatures and need 1165.
An earlier recall effort failed, with the County Clerk finding that not enough valid signatures were handed in.
The issue is complaints about leadership, specifically the decision to put an administrator on leave.
Here's some further details about the lawsuit filed against the Grover Beach city clerk claiming that they illegally rejected petitions in the recall effort against Grover Beach Mayor Karen Bright and Councilmembers Daniel Rushing and Zachary Zimmerman. Petitioners handed four times the required number of signatures to get the petitions. They need about 2000 signatures for Bright and Zimmerman and 500 for Rushing.
The Rushing recall appears to still be on.
The petitioners are claiming that the clerk required that the petitions remove a number of statements before they could be approved and "slow-walked" the process.
The issue seems to be a water rate increase to help a proposed recycled water project.
Signatures are being turned in for the recall of Las Animas County Coroner Dominic Verquer over claims of burying homeless people in a cemetery without the owner's knowledge or proper paperwork.
Petitioners said they are handing over 1300 and need 1253 valids. If it makes the ballot, it would be held on Election Day in November 5.
A never mind moment -- following last week's challenges in Delta County, where the local board of canvassers refused to certify the ouster of three Delta County Commissioners, they have reversed course and certified the recall.
The board's refusal seemed to be based on claims (by election deniers from the presidential race) that two of challengers had 2.64 votes for every one for the incumbent.
All three incumbents were blown out in recall races on May 7th, Commissioner Dave Moyle (R) lost to Kelli Van Ginhoven (D) 932-353; Commissioner Robert Barron lost to Myra Croasdell, 1410-514; Commissioners Robert Petersen lost to Matthew Jensen, 947-358. The vote was between 72-73%.
If the board didn't certify by May 20, the issue gets sent to the state to examine at the county's expense.
The recall was over their votes to fire the County Administrator (and apparently over their opposition to DEI issues).
Lots of issues in the signature stage.
Every single signatures in the recall effort against Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek were thrown out. 369 signatures were subject to random sampling. All were missing the "notice of the recall petition" invalidating all 369. Additionally, 27 failed on invalid addresses and 12 had insufficiency affidavits. 6 didn't have witnesses, 2 missed dates, 2 missed petitioner signatures, 1 had a self-witnessing and 1 was a duplicate.
The recall had already clearly failed, as the lead petitioner stated that he submitted 72,271 signatures and they needed 514,284.
The recall was seemingly over the single-use plastic law, though there is also a kitchen sink listing of complaints as well. This is the first recall attempt in Calgary (the law was adopted province-wide in 2022).
Supporters of Washington DC Councilmember Charles Allen have filed a complaint alleging violations of campaign finance laws by the recall proponents. The issue seems to be independent expenditures. The recall efforts against two Washington, D.C. Councilmembers are heating up, with petitioners claiming that they have 4500 signatures for the recall effort against . They are looking for 10K. There is also complaints about a tip line for the recall of .
The recall of Allen and Councilmember Brianne Nadeau are over rising crime issues, including Allen's push for criminal justice reform issues that were blocked by Congress and the Biden Administration last year.
The Senedd, the Welsh Parliament, is considering adopting a recall law that copies UK law, which would allow recalls if an MP is suspended for 10 days.
Monterey voters overwhelmingly approved a recall provision (75-9). Petitioners would need 15% of registereds to get a recall on the ballot.
New challenges in Delta County, as the local board of canvassers refused to certify the ouster of three Delta County Commissioners. The board's refusal seems to be based on claims (by election deniers from the presidential race) that two of challengers had 2.64 votes for every one for the incumbent.
All three incumbents were blown out in recall races on May 7th, Commissioner Dave Moyle (R) lost to Kelli Van Ginhoven (D) 932-353; Commissioner Robert Barron lost to Myra Croasdell, 1410-514; Commissioners Robert Petersen lost to Matthew Jensen, 947-358. The vote was between 72-73%.
If the board doesn't certify by May 20, the issue gets sent to the state to examine at the county's expense.
The recall is over their votes to fire the County Administrator (and apparently over their opposition to DEI issues).
Lots of issues in the signature stage.
A recall effort has been started against Washington DC Southwest Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner Mary C. Williams. Williams was a leader in the recall effort last year against Councilmember Sharon Ambrose (which didn't make the ballot).
The lead petitioner claims that Williams is a "shameless self-promotor" who launched a "smear campaign" against Ambrose. Williams also filed a defamation suit against the lead petitioner.
The article notes that this is the seventh recall attempt against an ANC commissioner in the last two years (though none made the ballot).
Signatures have been handed in against Avenal's Reef-Sunset School Board members Claudia Cazares, Lilia Rizo and Lissette Padilla. The recall is scheduled to be held on Election Day (November 5th). Petitioners handed in 582 signatures.
There were also attempts against President Lupe Chavez and Trustee Precilla Barrera-Lopez, which both failed.
The leader of the recall effort was a former employee and coach.
The recall is supposed to cost approximately $35,000.
Two Camden-Frontier School Board members, Jesse Crow and Emily Morrison, survived recall votes. Morrison defeated Sarah Wilcox, 202-156 and Crow defeated Rick Hartman, 190-168. The recall was over their vote in favor of retiring the school's Redskins mascot.
Petitioners handed in 418 signatures for Crow and 414 for Morrison. They need 348.
This was a second attempt against the two. Petitioners had previously gathered 400 and 398 signatures, but all but 10 were thrown out because the sheets did not have the header information.
Signatures have been handed in for the recall of Morrow County Commissioners, David Sykes, Jeff Wenholz and Roy Drago Jr. The issues seem to be a kitchen sink grouping, including changes to the ambulance service plan, transparency, water issues, and hiring more administrators.
In 2022, two Morrow Commissioners were ousted in a recall. Drago was appointed to replace one of them (and Wenholz defeated the other in a general election).
Petitioners handed in 725, 748 and 726 signatures and needs 613 valids for each (15% of gubernatorial turnout).
Drago is running in a May 21 primary as well.
Adams Township Clerk Stephanie Scott (R), who was ousted in 2023 along with Supervisor Mark Nichols, was charged with illegally accessing election data.
Scott was accused of removing a tabulation from an election device, which has led to a State Police investigation. She was then banned from running the 2021 election by the Secretary of State. Nichols voted against spending $5,500 for a new ballot tabulator and publicly supported Scott's actions.
Dickinson Mayor Sean Skipworth announced that he is resigning in the face of a new recall effort, with a special election to be held in November. The recall was over claims that he "failed to meet fiduciary responsibilities." There are a host of other complaints, including over his support for the hiring a city manager who has faced assault charges.
Dickinson has been the source of a bitter battle over the recall. The city attorney previously claimed that the recall was invalid after petitioners handed in about 1150 signatures and needed 689 valids (they had 30 days). The City Attorney said that the petitions did not confirm the number of signatures on each page; questions of who was facing a recall; and a lack of specifications on the recall claims.
Dickinson's auditor rejected a second attempt over claims that it didn't meet the specification requirement (a malfeasance standard/judicial recall law) for a recall to be allowed.
Skipworth also protested that the non-city residents are gathering signatures, which violates local laws, though that law itself may violate US law (maybe?).
The recall efforts against two Washington, D.C. Councilmembers are heating up, with petitioners claiming that they have 4500 signatures for the recall effort against Councilmember Charles Allen. They are looking for 10K. There is also complaints about a tip line for the recall of Councilmember Brianne Nadeau.
Both recalls are over rising crime issues, including Allen's push for criminal justice reform issues that were blocked by Congress and the Biden Administration last year.
There are also debates over the cost of the recall, with some saying there will be a $2.6 million cost, while the pro-recall people are suggesting it would cost $300-$400,000.
There is also discussion about fundraising, with Allen's team raising $125K and Nadeau raising $70K.
Leland voters may soon get a chance to adopt a recall law, as Representative Frank Iler (R) introduced House Bill 1062 that will allow a referendum in Leland to change the charter to adopt recall laws. The vote would be in November 2025. Under the proposed rule, they would need 25% of registered voters.
Leland Mayor Brenda Bozeman claims that the town is not asking for this provision.
Recall efforts have been started against Lorain Mayor Jack Bradley. Unfortunately, this is all behind a paywall and I see no other stories on what may have precipitated the issue. We'll have to wait for further news.
The pro-recall forces against Alameda District Attorney Pamela Price have topped a $3 million fundraise, with $1.1 million being brought in for the first quarter of 2024. In the first quarter, Price's team raised $26,284 and spent $81,655.
Jonathan Jarrett won the replacement race for Flint Councilmember Eva Worthing. The recall of Worthing got on the ballot and then announced that she would not running in the May 7th recall (which became a special replacement election).
Jarrett beat Page Brousseau and Kathryn Irwin, 247-145-85.
The recall, was part of internal battle in the council, with numerous recalls filed, though only Worthing got to the ballot. Worthing was accused of missing a meeting when they voted on American Rescue Plan funds.
In her resignation, Worthing called out four other councilmembers, led by Eric Mays, against whom there were recall efforts. The four were Dennis Pfeiffer, Eric Mays, Jerri Winfrey-Carter and Tonya Burns (recall were filed against Pfeiffer and Mays).
The recall is over claims that Mays and another councilmember called a meeting that they others did not attend over the question of applying for a community grant program funding. Mays has also been charged with disorderly conduct for conduct at the council meetings that has apparently gone viral.
There is also claims about approving a Brownfield Plan.
Four recall efforts have been filed against Flint Council President Ladel Lewi. Two were filed against councilmember Judy Priestley (with two filed against Priestly). Former Council President Allie Herkenroder already announced that she was resigning her seat last year.
Ypsilanti Councilmember Desirae Simmons (D) survived a recall vote, defeating former Ypsilanti Planning Commission Chairman Rod Johnson (I) 467-429.
The recall was over a vote to purchase a $3.7M building, A former Councilmember was the broker of the deal and may make $100,000 on it.
The recall against council member Jennifer Symanns led to her resignation, though petitioners have stopped their effort against Mayor Nicole Brown.
Two Grant Public Schools Board of Education members Rachal Gort and Richard Vance survived their May 7th, recall vote. Gort defeated Mindy Conley 924-791 and Vance beat Lindsay Mahlich, 902-817.
There were also recall attempts against Sabrina Veltkamp-Bol and Ken Thorne (the other seat was opened). Petitioners are still attempting a recall against Veltkamp-Bol (Thorne is on the November ballot).
The recall is over their votes to end a partnership with a health center that works in the middle school. The vote may have been because of a mural that features LGBTQ+ "witchcraft" and "Satan" imagery. The artist has stated the images are from video games and Hispanic culture. The superintendent also resigned, possibly under pressure.
Three Delta County Commissioners were ousted in recall races on May 7th. Commissioner Dave Moyle (R) lost to Kelli Van Ginhoven (D) 932-353; Commissioner Robert Barron lost to Myra Croasdell, 1410-514; Commissioners Robert Petersen lost to Matthew Jensen, 947-358.
The recall is over their votes to fire the County Administrator (and apparently over their opposition to DEI issues).
Lots of issues in the signature stage.
Ottawa County Commissioner Lucy Ebel (R) has been ousted in a recall vote, losing to Christian Kleinjans (D) 2502-1665.
The recall was over her vote to reverse the hiring of the county health officer. Ebel is a member of Ottawa Impact, a fundamentalist Christian group who have elected a number of officials in the county. Some of Ebel's supporters claim the recall is because of her Latino heritage, though the recall proponents deny this charge.
Recall efforts against Ottawa County Commissioner Doug Zylstra (D) and Roger Bergman (R) failed. The petitions has been pushed by the Ottawa Impact over the two commissioners opposition to a bill that claiming to protect "childhood innocence." Zylstra noted that the bill lacked any specificity for staffers to follow. Petitioners would need 2620 signatures for Zylstra and 3717 for Bergman.
Palomino Valley General Improvement District Chairman Tom Baker was removed, 217-103. Petitioners claimed that Baker "didn't know what he was doing, violated open meeting law and mistreated employees."
The recall apparently cost $31,000.
The recall effort against Fairfax Vice Mayor Lisel Blash and Councilmember Stephanie Hellman is now facing further questions, as the clerk rejected the submission for the first stage, claiming that there weren't enough signatures handed in and then allegedly refused to answer questions on the requirements needed to get the recall on the ballot (or hand back the original signatures for reuse). The town attorney also refused to provide answers to the questions.
The issue seems to be their support for rent control and a development plan.
Petitioners need about 1500 signatures in 90 days.
Cottonwood failed to schedule a recall against City Councilmember Lisa DuVernay, because of a failure to meet the quorum requirement for the meeting. The result is that the recall is being moved from the July primary to the general election date in August. Petitioners needed 361 signatures.
DuVernay is accused of showing what it calls a pornographic video at a council meeting in August. It appears the video was of a drag show. DuVernay, a conservative member of the council, was pushing for a ban on drag shows where minors are present.
Petitions are also out against Councilmember Derek Paosaari over accusations of sexual harassment. a recall of DuVernay, whose term ends in 2026.
Signatures have been handed in against Buchanan Mayor Sean Denison. The recall is over the indefinite suspension of the City Manager (Denison notes he was following the advice of counsel). This is the fourth City manager since 2020. Petitioners handed in 532 signatures and had 396 validated. They needed 380.
Election Commission previously rejected the language of tan earlier petition against Buchanan Mayor Sean Denison, due to the petition misspelling the word "Buchanan."
Petitions have been taken out against Hoxie Mayor Dennis Coggins. Not sure how many signatures are needed, but the town has about 2600 people total.
Hoxie and the mayor recently lost a lawsuit due to their failure to comply with FOIA laws. The mayor is also facing a lawsuit over claims that he sexually harassed a tenant.
Following a start-stop, the recall effort against San Luis Obispo County Supervisor Bruce Gibson has finally failed with no signatures handed in. An earlier effort was brough back after it first was "terminated."
The recall is seemingly over an "attempt to privatize North County water" and claims of micromanagement and open government law violations. Petitioners need about 7500 signatures to get on the ballot.
The very bumpy ride for the Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price recall has begun, as the County Board of Supervisors have accepted the Certificate of Sufficiency, but haven't scheduled the recall yet. The reason may be that by waiting to the next Supervisor meeting they can delay the election to the November election date.
The new California recall law (under Measure B) requires the recall to be scheduled in 88-125 days unless there is an election in 180 days, in which case it can be tied into that election day. Under the old charter law, the recall would have to be scheduled in 35-40 days.
Price is still arguing against the recall, and her attorney has complained about some of the points made in our article. Price also said that the California Fair Political Practices Commission is looking into the funding of the recall.
And here's my interview on Kron4 on this.
Petitioners are claiming that they are on track for the recall effort against St. Tammany Parish Coroner Christopher Tape.
Petitioners are now claiming that they will start a recall effort against him. The recall is over sex abuse allegations that were dismissed in 2003 over a claim of a violation of a right to a speedy trial. Tape was fired by the previous coroner over claims of violating the confidentiality policy.
Petitioners need more than 38,000 signatures to get on the ballot. They claim they have 1500 verified signatures and more in the pipeline.
10 years ago, St. Tammany Parish Coroner Peter Galvan resigned during recall efforts over theft.
A lawsuit has been filed by petitioners claiming that the city clerk unlawfully rejected petitions in the recall effort against Grover Beach Mayor Karen Bright and Councilmembers Daniel Rushing and Zachary Zimmerman. Petitioners handed four times the required number of signatures to get the petitions. They need about 2000 signatures for Bright and Zimmerman and 500 for Rushing.
The petitioners are claiming that the clerk required that the petitions remove a number of statements before they could be approved.
The issue seems to be a water rate increase to help a proposed recycled water project.
Three of four Elsie-Vinemaple Rural Fire Protection District Board members are losing their recall votes, with Chair Vivian McCann and members Staciy Morrison and Wayne Carmichael currently down (though it will be a while before we have the total vote in. Thomas Hecox is currently surviving by one vote.
The recall is over a vote to remove the fire chief.
The recall effort against Coral Gables Mayor Vince Lago failed in the first round, though petitioners are claiming about an interesting "sabotage."
The petition is just for first round of signatures. Petitioners would have needed another 5000 to get through to the ballot.
Petitioners handed in 1719 handed in and they need 1649 (5% of the registered voters). 1533 were validated. There seems to be a number of duplicates which (according to the article), results in both signatures getting thrown out. One of the duplicates was the lead petitioner, which is a bit odd. The petitioners claim that there was a concerted effort to duplicate signatures.
The recall is over the firing of the City Manager and complaints by a commissioner of a "cesspool of public corruption." Lago opposed the ouster of the City Manager. An election last year of two opposition Commissioners has put Lago on the outs with the majority of the commission.
Lago has been the subject of Miami Herald investigative pieces of his ties to a developer who is the subject of federal investigations.
