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Any five registered voters may form themselves into a committee for the purpose of bringing about the recall of any elected officer of the City. The committee shall certify to the City Administrator the name of the officer whose removal is sought, a statement of the grounds for removal in not more than 250 words and their intention to bring about his recall. A copy of this certificate shall be attached to each signature paper and no signature paper shall be put into circulation previous to such certification.
The petition for the recall of any official shall consist of a certificate identical with that filed with the City Administrator together with all the signature papers and affidavits thereto attached. All the signatures need not be on one signature paper, but the circulator of every paper shall make an affidavit that each signature appended to the paper is the genuine signature of the person whose name it purports to be. Each signature paper shall be in substantially the following form:
Recall Petition
proposing the recall of from his office as which recall is sought for the reasons set forth in the attached certificate. This movement is sponsored by the following committee of registered voters:
Name: Address:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
The undersigned registered voters understanding the nature of the charges against the officer herein sought to be recalled, desire the holding of a recall election for that purpose.
Name: Address:
1.
2.
3.
At the end of the list of signatures shall be appended the affidavit of the circulator.
Within 30 days after the filing of the original certificate, the committee shall file the completed petition in the office of the City Administrator. The City Administrator shall examine the petition within the next five days, and if he finds it irregular in any way, or finds that the number of signers is less than 500, he shall so notify one or more members of the committee. The committee shall then be given ten days in which to file additional signature papers and to correct the petition in all other respects, but they may not change the statement of the grounds upon which the recall is sought. If at the end of that time
the City Administrator finds the petition still insufficient or irregular, he shall notify all the members of the committee to that effect and shall file the petition in his office. No further action shall be taken thereon.
If a petition or amended petition is found sufficient, the City Administrator shall transmit it to the Council without delay, and shall also officially notify the person sought to be recalled of the sufficiency of the petition and of the pending action. the Council shall at its next meeting, by resolution, provide for the holding of a special election not less than 45, nor more than 60 days, after such meeting, but if any other election is to occur within 60 days after such meeting, the Council may in its discretion provide for the holding of the recall election at that time.
The City Administrator shall include with the published or posted notice of the election the statement of the grounds for the recall and also, in not more than 500 words, the answer of the officer concerned in justification of his course in office. Candidates to succeed the officer to be recalled shall be nominated in the usual way, and the election shall be conducted as far as possible, in accordance with the usual procedure in municipal elections.
Unless the officer whose removal is sought resigns within ten days after the receipt by the Council of the completed recall petition, the form of the ballot at such election shall be as near as may be:
“Shall be recalled?” the name of the officer whose recall is sought being inserted in the blank, and the registered voters shall be permitted to vote separately “yes” or “no” upon this question. The ballot shall also contain the names of the candidates to be voted upon to fill the vacancy, in case the recall is successful, under the caption: “Candidates to fill the place of , if recalled”; but the officer whose recall is sought shall not himself be a candidate upon such ballot. If a majority of those voting on the question of recall vote in favor of recall, the official shall be thereby removed from office, and the candidate who receives the highest number of votes for his place shall be elected thereto for the remainder of the unexpired term. If the officer sought to be recalled resigns within ten days after the receipt by the Council of the completed recall petition, the form of ballot at the election shall be the same, as nearly as possible, as the form in use at a regular election.
(Source: City Charter; Effective Date: 10-1-87)