California: Petitions taken out against two Tucumcari City commissioners

Tucumcari City Commissioners Amy Gutierrez and Rick Haymaker facing recall petitions for unknown reasons. The petitions were taken out by a losing municipal judge candidate in 2013, Gary Southern. According to the report, Southern said that he took the petitions out on someone else's behalf.

Haymaker was appointed on May 8 to fill an vacant seat. Southern was one of the interviewed candidates for the vacant seat.

Colorado: El Paso County Sheriff hears recall threats over sexual misconduct claims

The El Paso County Board of Commissioners is pushing Sheriff Terry Maketa to resign with a no confidence vote, while there is discussion of a recall. Maketa, in his third term, has been accused of favoring sexual impropriety (favoring several employees who he is alleged to have slept with). Petitioners would need about 44,000 signatures.

California: Modesto City Council members are facing petitions

City Council members Dave Cogdill and Jenny Kenoyer are facing petitions over a vote to include Wood Colony in a general plan/blueprint for the city. The Wood Colony residents opposed the city's plan. Petitioners need 20% of registered voters in 120 days, Codgill 3,184 and Kenoyer 3.363

Wisconsin: Crandon mayor facing recall petitions

Crandon Mayor Rob Jaeger (in his second term) is facing recall threats over what opponents claim is his refusal to allow the public to speak at meetings and attempting to fire employees. Petitioners need 152 signatures in six weeks. 

Philippines: Recalls stopped due to lack of funds by the government:

This is a new one -- they are claiming that petitioners aren't allowed to pay for the government's work either.

Michigan: Third try against Warren Mayor Jim Fourts

The other attempts were shot down on clarity/factual grounds.

Oklahoma: Delaware tribal chief facing petitions

Petitions have been taken out against Delaware Chief Paula Pechonick for violating the tribes constitution by firing two consultants.  Petitioners need at least 100 signatures.

Massachusetts: Charlemont town meeting to consider recall law

Charlemont's annual town meeting will include a vote on adding a recall provision to the bylaws. Petitioners would need at least 100 voters to start a recall, and at least 20% (of the town, but probably just registered voters) need to sign to get a recall on the ballot. Any removed official would be banned from serving in a town position for two years afterward.

Louisiana: Recall law changed to prevent ousted candidates from running in replacement race

Louisiana's legislature overwhelming passed a bill that would ban officials who were just removed in a recall from running in the replacement race. The bill is being called the "Deedy Slaughter bill" after the recently removed Port Allen mayor who got a third of the votes in her replacement race (but came in third).

Arizona: Cave Creek recalls get on the ballot

The petitions against Cave Creek Vice Mayor Adam Trenk, and councilmen Mike Durkin, Charles Spitzer and Reg Monachino have each been found to have enough signatures to get on the ballot -- the recall sounds like it would be scheduled at the earliest date (election day, November 4). Petitioners needed to hand in 293 signatures -- it is unclear how many were turned in.

Two other council members were targeted in the early goings, but those efforts were dropped. The issue was the firing of the longtime Town Manager.

Texas: Houston Mayor, city council members facing threats over equal rights ordinance

Mayor Annise Parker and unnamed city council members are facing recall threats over their support for a proposed Houston equal rights ordinance. The likelihood of a recall is small for two reasons. One is that Houston is judicial recall/malfeasance standard city -- petitioners would have to show incompetence, misconduct, malfeasance of unfitness. The lead petitioners is claiming the ordinance shows incompetence, which probably will be extremely difficult to hold up in court.

Petitioners would need 42,500 signatures in 30 days to get the recall on the ballot against the mayor (25% of turnout). However, turnout is much lower in the city council seats, so that may be only 2,500 or so signatures (depending on the district).

Of further interest is the second part of this point -- that you can mail petitions directly to voters and have it returned. That seems quite different from most other states laws.

Gathering petition signatures has become a sophisticated undertaking. Sometimes when politicos launch petition drives they hire people to gather signatures in public places, but that causes trouble because many signers turn out to be ineligible. Another method -- mailing petitions directly to targeted registered voters with return envelopes – has proven more reliable.

New Jersey: Vineland mayoral recall gets more time due to big judicial ruling

Big news out of New Jersey that should have an impact beyond recalls. A Superior Court Judge extended the recall deadline for the attempt against Mayor Ruben Bermudez. Petitioners had 160 days (ending on May 19), but the judge has let them continue until a May 30 hearing. Here's the decision:

The decision seems to be similar to a Michigan court ruling that is currently being debated with regard to Representative John Conyers. The city restricted signature gatherers to only registered voters in the municipality itself (and also requires that they personally sign the recall petition).  Petitioners successfully (so far, at least) claimed that this was a violation of free speech and right of association.

 Petitioners need 9,447 signatures (25% of registereds), they claim to have 5,000 confirmed, and also claim that they have over 8,000 over all. Since New Jersey appears to have a very strict signature requirement (by the high percentage of signatures thrown out in other recalls), they will need significantly more. It could be that the new rules lower that strict requirement, but it is not clear by how much.

Also of interest is that one recall proponent went through the rolls, crosschecked them with obituaries to try and lower the total number of voters, and therefore lower the number of signatures. Never heard of anyone doing this, but certainly a good idea for petitioners (with some time on their hands) to try and emulate.

Hat tip to Mickey Brandt at the Grapevine who has kept on top of this.

Kansas: Denison Mayor facing August 5 vote

Denison mayor Audrey Oliverius is facing an August 5 recall vote. Petitioners need 12 signatures, they handed in 29 valid ones. The mayor is facing the recall because she called council votes during an executive session (a violation of open meeting laws). There's also complaints that she didn’t receive formal training from the city or Jackson County. And the city clerk, city treasurer and utility supervisor have resigned.

Ohio: Pataskala City Council member facing recall petitions

An attempt has been started to recall Pataskala City Council member Pat Sagar (in her third term, first elected in 1999). No reason is known yet. Here's a little bit on recalls in Ohio.

Michigan: Gaines Township Treasurer, Clerk signatures handed in

Petitioners have turned in signatures against Gaines Township Treasurer Diane Hyrman and Clerk Michael Dowler. It seems like it was two separate people getting the signatures. Petitioner collected 809 signatures, they need 652, at least against Dowler. They collected 798 against Hyrman.

Dowler apparently took papers from a newly-elected Supervisor's office (he was upset at the election results. Hyrman is facing a recall over a police millage issue. Petitions are outstanding against Supervisor Chuck Melki (the former president of the Village), who also voted for the millage issue. Melki is the same supervisor who had the papers taken from his office.

Here's an earlier, excellent look at this recall by the same reporter, Eric Dresden.

Idaho: Kuna School Board member attracts recall

Kuna petitioners who are supporting a $6.38 million school levy (that was rejected by voters in March), are handing in recall papers against School Board member Michael Law who opposed the levy. Petitioners are giving in at least 45 signatures, they need 29. Recall would be held on August 26.

Tennessee: Chattanooga councilman pushes for examination of signature fraud in failed recall attempt

Here

Louisiana: Fracking fight leads to attempt to recall President, 14 members of St. Tammany Parish's council

Another recall attempt in St. Tammany Parish's, this time against President Pat Brister and all 14 members of the Parish Council. If it went off, it would likely be the biggest single mass recall election in US history (hint, it won't happen). The issue is the Council's failure to fight a proposed fracking operation.

The original; filing of petitions were rejected because both the chair and vice-chair must be registered voters in the council district.  The same people chair/vice-chair signed all of the petitions (and they live in different districts), so none of the petitions are valid.

For Brister, they would need over 53,000 signatures (33 1/3 of registereds).

Michigan: Second attempt for recall in Warren shot down on clarity/factual reasons

The second attempt to recall Warren Mayor James Fouts and Clerk Paul Wojno was rejected over clarity and factualness. The claim against Fouts is over the settlement of a whistleblower lawsuit (arguing that Fouts threatened former city workers). Wojno was threatened over a dispute as to who is responsible for the removal of deceased registered voters.

California: Pleasant Hill City Clerk resigns rather than face recall

Pleasant Hill City Clerk Kim Lehmkuhl, who could not produce the City Council minutes for her first year in office, resigned in the face of a recall.

She apparently sent a "fiery" email, as you can see below in her resignation. resigned from her post as city clerk with a scathing email on Monday after facing ridicule in recent months for failing to produce a single set of City Council meeting minutes during her first year in office.

In the email sent to Mayor Tim Flaherty and City Manager June Catalano, Lehmkuhl described her time working for the city as an "atrocious, incredibly depressing, and mind-numbingly inane experience I would not wish on anyone." "I wish the City the best of luck in finding some schmuck eager to transcribe every last misogynistic joke, self-indulgent anecdote, and pathetic pandering attempt by Council, and every tinfoil hat conspiracy theory, racist aside, and NIMBY asshattery from the lovely council meeting frequent flyers, without which, surely our democracy could not flourish," she wrote.