Georgia: Recall effort targets College Park Council member

Petitions are being taken out against College Park Councilmember Jamelle McKenzie. The complaint seems to be about toxic work environments, contacting voters who were scheduled to speak at council meetings in an alleged attempt to intimidate and posting about the firing of an employee before they were notified. 

Petitioners are looking for 900 signatures in 30 days, though it's unclear how many are needed. Georgia is a malfeasance standard/judicial recall state, so it's not clear if this meets the bar for a recall.

Wisconsin: Fifield Supervisor makes the ballot; Recall scheduled for August 27

The recall of Fifield Town Board Supervisor Ann Sloane has made the ballot and is scheduled for August 27. If there's a primary, that would be held on August 20th, with the election on September 24.

The recall is over creating "tension on the board" though Sloane said it is part of an attack against the Pike Lake Fire Department (where she is a first responder). There was a first recall attempt over permit violations on the lake after some changes to buoy regulations.

Petitioners got more than 200 signatures in a first attempt. The second got 197 and needed 139. 

Georgia: Judge rejects Athens Mayor attempt to throw out recall effort

A judge has rejected Athens Mayor Kelly Girtz lawsuit to stop the the recall effort against Girtz and presumably those against Clarke County Sheriff John Q. Williams and Western Judicial Circuit District Attorney Deborah Gonzalez. The rejection was over Girtz's failure to file the petition before the deadline. However, petitioners would have to restart the signature gathering. 

Georgia is a Malfeasance Standard/Judicial Recall state, so it is not clear that they have the for cause requirement handled.

The recall moved past the initial stage, with petitioners needing 100 signatures minimum (They handed in 159 for Gonzalez, 126 for Williams and 118 for Girtz).

Petitioners have 45 days to collect 30% of registered voters in the last election for the office -- which will be over 5000 for each (each one has a different last election -- the DA was elected in a special election on December 1, 2020). Because this is registered voters, not turnout, having lower turnout in a special or municipal election wouldn't matter.

There are also threats of recall efforts against 10 district commissioners, though each must be launched from a petitioner in their own district. The first one, against Commissioner Melissa Link, failed as the lead petitioner does not live in that district.

The recall is over the high-profile murder of a nursing student by an undocumented Venezuelan immigrant that has grabbed national attention. In 2019, the county issued a statement on welcoming people from all lands and backgrounds as well as denouncing white nationalists and xenophobes. The lead petitioner is apparently well known after being charged in 2016 after he allegedly "became irate when his wife put too much cheese on his grilled cheese sandwich."The lawsuit over the recall effort against Athe

California: Contra Costa District Attorney facing recall effort

Contra Costa District Attorney Diana Becton is facing a recall effort, with a campaign committee being formed, though no petitions have been taken out. The article suggests that about 75,000 signatures would be needed, though looking at the registration in the county, it may be closer to 70,700 (at the moment).

Becton appears to be part of the progressive prosecutor movement, and is facing similar complaints to DAs in San Francisco, Los Angeles and Alameda about a failure to prosecute different cases. Becton has also been accused of demoting her last two opponent after her election and there was apparently a $2.2 million discrimination settlement against the DA's office (which her opponent was part of -- the alleged discrimination was against women). 

California: Two Millbrae Councilmembers losing recall election vote

Both Millbrae Councilmembers, Angelina Cahalan (586-245) and Maurice Goodman (1083-294), are trailing badly in the first announced result of the recall effort. 

The recall is over a San Mateo County plan to convert an Inn to a homeless shelter. Both are in their first terms.

Texas: Austin to vote on charter raising recall signature threshold

Austin's voting on a charter change for the city council, with a proposal to raise the signature threshold for recalls from 10% to 15% of registered voters.

California: One Grover Beach Councilmember recall makes the ballot

The recall of Grover Beach Councilmember Daniel Rushing has made the ballot. Petitioners handed in 521 valid signatures and needed 504. They seem to have handed in 661 signatures, but collected 709. Hopefully, we'll find out about this discrepancy. 

The issue seems to be a water rate increase to help a proposed recycled water project. 

The recall followed a legal battle where others were targeted. Here's 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 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 and "slow-walked" the process. The court seems to have ruled for the petitioners, but it's not clear where this is going (outside of the Rushing recall).

Oregon: Three Morrow County Commissioners survives recall vote

Three Morrow County Commissioners survived a special election today, with the preliminary results showing Commissioners David Sykes (657-1504), Jeff Wenholz (737-1465) and Roy Drago Jr., (688-1508) victorious.  Here's my comments on the recall in an Oregon Public Broadcasting interview.

The recall was over a seeming kitchen sink grouping of issues, 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 ran in a May 21 primary, though he seems to have come in second (649-638-501-391)

Turnout was 30.84%

California: Montebello Councilmember recall makes the ballot

The recall of Montebello Councilmember Angie Jimenez  has made the ballot. The recall effort cites Jimenez's absences from meetings, her vote in favor of a waste transfer station and opposition to the Traffic and Safety Commission reinstatement. Jimenez blames land developers. 

Petitioners handed in 2023 valid signatures and needed 1388. The recall will be on the November 5 general election ballot.

California: Two Sunol Glen School Board members ousted in recall vote

The recall of both Sunol Glen School Board Trustees have been certified, with Ryan Jergensen losing 277-255 and Linda Hurley down 274-258. There's still a good bit of time for votes to be counted. 

The recall is after the board voted to limit the school to only flying US or California state flags. The school flew a pride flag during Pride Month. 

Petitioners handed in 307 signatures for Jergensen and got 300 valids; 306 handed in for Hurley, with 301 valids. They needed 246 signatures to get on the ballot.

Michigan: Last of the eight House member recalls failed to submit signatures

An update on the recall efforts against eight different Michigan House members -- all of the recalls failed, with no signatures handed in. The most recent failures were those against against House members Betsy Coffia and Noah Arbit, Sharon MacDonell and Republican Representative Cam Cavitt have been approved. 

Cavitt's recall language was over his vote in favor of electing Representative Joe Tate as speaker. 

Previously, revised petitions were submitted against four Democratic Michigan House members, Jennifer Conlin and Reggie Miller.

Petition language was previously rejected in seven of eight filings, as well as Sharon MacDonell (D) and Jamie Churches (D) and Republican Donni Steele (R). 

The six Democrats were targeted over votes in favor of red flag laws to remove guns from people who are considered extreme risks (Coffia and MacDonell) and hate crimes legislation (Conlin, Miller and Churches). The petitions did not spell this out, which resulted in their rejection. Steele (R) is also facing a recall effort over her vote in favor of a bill requiring safe storage of guns when not in use.

While the petition language is over these bills and votes, most believe the recall is due to the fact that the Democrats have a narrow 56-54 majority in the House, leading petitioners to think they can gain control of the chamber with recalls. 

Recalls to flip a chamber are not unusual and have actually worked, though the longer term implications are frequently poor. Recalls in Washington in 1981, Michigan in 1983, California in 1995, Wisconsin in 1996, Wisconsin in 2011, 2012, Colorado in 2013 and attempts in Colorado and Nevada in 2019 all had this goal. In Michigan, California and Wisconsin (1996), recalls actually resulted in change of control, though only the Michigan one stuck (Democrats have been out of power in the Michigan Senate for nearly 40 years, ending this last election.

Michigan has also had four state legislative elections, in 1983, 2008 and 2011. Three of the four led to removal.

Massachusetts: New Bedford Mayor makes further push for recall law

An update on the push by New Bedford Mayor John Mitchell for a recall law for city council members. The proposal needs the approval from the City Council and then needs the state to sign off on the home rule petition. The council is complaining that they should have a four year term (they have two-year terms) for a recall to be adopted.

Under the proposal, petitioners would need signatures from 15% of registereds in 45 days (at large officials need 600 signatures). The recall proposal also has a turnout veto -- 15% of registereds must vote for it to count.

The city looked into such a law in 2017.

California: San Francisco School Board recall leader, who later lost appointed seat, running in new election

Ann Hsu, who helped lead the 2022 recall of three San Francisco School Board members, was appointed to replace one of the defeated incumbents and then lost the seat in November, is now running to get back on the school board.  

Colorado: Three Falcon Highlands Metropolitan District board members ousted in recall vote

Three Falcon Highlands Metropolitan District Board Members appear to have lost their recall elections, with Erin Ganaway (277-14), Leo Schuhmacher (276-17) and Tom Dickey (280-11), though ballots are still coming in (the election was July 16).

The issue was groundwater flooding and claims of conflict of interest with developers. 

Ainsley Sinclaire replaces Ganaway, Bob Aamodt is leading for the Shuhmacher's seat and Curtis Fletcher seems to have won Dickey's replacement race.

Turnout was 35%, which the election official noted was "impressive," comparing it favorably to the 28.5% for the recent congressional primary. 

Michigan: Petitions filed against three Mott Community College Trustees

Petitions have been filed against Mott Community College Board of Trustees Janet Couch, John Daly III and Secretary Wendy Wolcott.  The recall is over the approval of a contract for an interim president. The vote was 5-2, though the other two members are not eligible for a recall. 

No word on how many signatures are needed, but it would be in the tens of thousands. 

Washington: Four Port Angeles City Council members facing petitions

Petitions have been taken out against Port Angeles City Council members Kate Dexter, Navarra Carr, Lindsey Schromen-Wawrin and LaTrisha Suggs. The petition claims that they are illegible to serve "because they are members of the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives and have not posted an international bond."

A Judge will decide whether the petitions meet Washington State's Malfeasance Standard/Judicial Recall. 

Louisiana: Petitions taken out against five East Baton Rouge School Board Members

Petitions have been taken out against East Baton Rouge Parish School Board members Mark Bellue, Nathan Rust, Michael Gaudet, Emily Soule and Patrick Martin.

The issue seems to be a failure to choose a new Superintendent. 

Petitioners need 7514 signatures for Bellue, 7010 for Rust, 6689 for Gaudet, 7609 for Soule and 7501 for Martin.