Monday, March 31, 2014

Idaho: Flier Mayor and Council members face recall petitions

Flier Mayor Rick Dunn and the entire city council, Ruby Hite, Joe Lineberry, Don Barkley and Russell “Bud” Sheridan, are facing recalls after the council announced that a police officer who shot a dog running loose would remain on the payroll.

Petitioners cannot begin the process until the council is in office 90 days. They've only been there 82. Petitioners need 201 signatutes (20%) in 75 days). There's going to be some real questions on replacements -- the city uses an appointment process, so in case of recalls, the mayor appoints new city council members, and the city council elected new mayors.

Here's an editorial opposing the recall effort.

Tuesday, March 25, 2014

Friday, March 21, 2014

Canada: Calgary Herald op-ed opposes recall

The Calgary Herald has an op-ed claiming the province doesn't need a recall, and citing the recent removal of Premier Alison Redford as the example. There hasn't been too much discussion on a recall in the province recently, but the Wildrose party (who has gone up in the polls) had previously supported one).

Rhode Island: Woonsocket city councilors facing petitions over full day kindergarten proposal

Woonsocket city councilors, Garrett Mancieri and Melissa Murray, are facing recall petitions over their support for a resolution (that was tabled) pushing for the reimplementation of full day kindergarten. 

Thursday, March 20, 2014

Michigan: Cedar Springs City Council recall petitions approved

Cedar Springs City Council members Ashley Bremmer and Patricia Troost are facing petitions. The language was approved by a 2-1 vote. The issue was both voting in a closed session and more critically, voting to change the city logo and tagline (here's a bit on that odd fight). Petitioners need 170 signatures in 60 days. 

Wednesday, March 19, 2014

Tennessee: Chattanooga Council recall facing trouble getting signatures

Looks like City Councilman Chris Anderson efforts to stop the recall against him with lawsuits may be unnecessary. Reports note that petitioners have handed in 146 valid signatures (they need 1,600 by April 9). The report also claims that several pages of the signatures were in the same handwriting.

Colorado: Democrats propose changes to recall law following losses in September

The changes are an attempt to conform the recall law to the regular election law. The discrepancy caused some serious issues with the September recalls. It pays to remember that this is not an unusual issue with recalls -- we frequently see that recall laws are poorly drafted, resulting in confusion and lawsuits. We'll see what happens.

Tuesday, March 18, 2014

Philippines: Puerto Pricensa City Mayor facing recall petitions

Puerto Pricensa City Mayor Lucilo R. Bayron is facing recall petitions brought by an official of the last administration. The petition has about 40,000 signatures.  Petitioners need 22,227 (15% of registereds).

The petitioner claims that the administration is responsible for a drop in tourism, increase in crime.

California: Maywood Mayor, City Councilwoman facing petitions;

Mayor Oscar Magaña and Councilwoman Veronica Guardado are facing petitions, though there are complaints that the petitions are illegal.

The complaints include that petitions had only signature lines and no reasons for the recall. Lots of different accusations are being thrown around on the petitioning process. One of the proponents of the recall is a Former Councilman Felipe Aguirre, who lost in November. There is some claim that he is trying to use the recall to get back into office.

The recall proponents claim that Magna and Guardado (and one other councilman) supported an ordinance, but needed 4 votes to pass. The ordinance went down 3-1 with one absent. They have seen brought back the ordinance for a vote, which has helped push forward the recall.

Arizona: Clifton School Board recall bounces out two incumbents

The two incumbents, Adam Chacon and Reynaldo Tavison, overwhelmingly lost their recall races. Christine Hancock defeated Chacon 490-97 and Betty Swesey won a three-way race, 385-163 (Ron Johnson - 50 for Tavison.

Here's an op-ed criticizing the use of the recall in Arizona, noting that the challengers could have run against Chacon and Tavison (both of whom were elected unopposed).

Sunday, March 16, 2014

California: Signatures handed against Commerce Mayor, three city councilmembers

Petitioners have turned in signatures against Mayor Joe Aguilar, and City Councilmembers Tina Baca del Rio, Leila Leon and Ivan Altamirano, handing in 2,100 per. They need 1577. 350 signers retracted their signatures, but petitioners weren't concerned.

Friday, March 14, 2014

Florida: Threats of recalls in Fruitland Park

Four of the five Fruitland Park commissioners  are facing recall threats over their settlement of three lawsuits petitioners would need 250 signatures (10%) in 30 days. Then they have to get 15% more
367 in 60 days.

Oregon: West Linn Mayor, City Councilor recalls fail

The attempted recall of West Linn Mayor John Kovash and councilors Mike Jones, Jenni Tan and Jody Carson failed, with petitioners not turning in petitions. The petitioners, who are citing a moral victory, claim they got almost 1800 signatures (they needed 1844 per), but of course, that's not verifiable. The issue was the vote to expand a water project.

Thursday, March 13, 2014

Arizona: Cave Creek Vice Mayor signs own petition with a actor's name

Vice Mayor Adam Trenk, facing a recall petition with councilmen Mike Durkin, Reg Monachino and Charles Spitzer, signed the petition with the name of James Gandolfini, and then posted it on Facebook.The article notes that a fake signature is a misdemeanor violation.

Virginia: Ruling on allowing recall petitioners into recall trial of Sterling Supervisor

In a first motion in the rare use of the recall trial, a judge ruled that the recall plaintiffs can't join the case against Sterling Supervisor Eugene Delgaudio (R), but may be allowed in once a new prosecutor is appointed.

Delgaudio is facing a recall over claims by a staffer that she set up meetings to solicit political donations on the county clock. Petitioners handed in 686 signatures. Though there was a grand jury investigation, no charges were filed. The Board of Supervisors (all Republican), censured Delgaudio and stripped him of committee assignments.

California: Petitioners calling for resignation of embattled Pleasant Hills City Clerk

The recall against City Clerk Kim Lehmkuhl for failing to produce council meeting minutes for a year is leading to resignation pressure. Petitioners are citing an estimated $23,712 cost for the recall, and at least $8000  to verify the signatures (petitioners need 3,800).

Wednesday, March 12, 2014

Texas: Recall being pushed in Temple, though questions on city law persist

Temple’s city charter is causing problems with the attempted recall of Mayor Pro Tem Judy Morales. Morales is facing a recall after an arrest warrant was issued for her over the deletion of emails at HELP Center computers (Morales is the former director of HELP Center).

The issue is how many signatures are needed. Petitioners need to get 30% of voters in a single member district. However, no one knows that number. The article claims she needs more than 11,000 in 30 days.