The electors shall have the power to remove from office by a recall election any elected officer of this Municipality. No petition shall be filed against an elective official during the first six (6) months of such official's term of office. The procedure to effect such removal shall be:
A. A petition form shall be filed with the Clerk-Treasurer containing the following:
(1) the name, address and signatures of five (5) electors of the Village who, as the Recall Committee, shall be responsible for the circulation and filing of the petition;
(2) the name of the elective official whose removal is sought;
(3) a general statement, in not more than two hundred words, of the grounds upon which removal is sought;
(4) space for the printed name, residence address, date and signature of each elector to be affixed to the petition; and
(5) a circulator affidavit in a form identical in content to the following:
"I (Circulators Name) under the penalty of election falsification, circulated this petition paper and witnessed the affixing of every signature contained on it, that all signers were to the best of my knowledge and belief residents of the Village of Mogadore and otherwise qualified to sign, that every signature is to the best of my knowledge and belief the signature of the person whose signature it purports to be, and this petition paper contains (insert number of signatures') signatures."
The petition form as filed with the Clerk-Treasurer shall contain no signatures other than those of the Recall Committee. Upon the filing of a recall petition form that the Clerk-Treasurer determines meets the requirements hereof, the Clerk-Treasurer shall announce the receipt of the petition form at the next regular meeting of Council. No recall form may be circulated for signatures of anyone other than the Recall Committee until announced to Council by the Clerk-Treasurer.
B. A recall may be commenced by the filing with the Clerk-Treasurer of recall petitions in a form previously accepted by the Clerk-Treasurer containing the printed name, residence address, and signature of qualified electors equal in number to at least twenty-five percent (25%) of the total number of persons voting in the Municipality at the last general election. The Clerk-Treasurer shall note the name and address of the person filing the petition and the date of such filing.
C. Within twenty (20) days after the day on which such petition is filed, the Clerk-Treasurer shall consult with the appropriate Board of Elections to determine the sufficiency of the petition. Such time may be extended only upon written certification by the Board of Elections that the petitions were timely delivered to it by the Clerk-Treasurer and the Board of Elections required additional time to verify the signatures contained on the petitions.
If the Clerk-Treasurer shall find the petition insufficient, the Clerk-Treasurer shall immediately deliver such determination to the person who filed the petition and make a record of such delivery. The delivery shall include a statement of the Clerk-Treasurer containing the reason the petition was insufficient. Such person shall be allowed a period of twenty (20) days after the date on which such delivery was made in which to make the petition sufficient.
If the Clerk-Treasurer finds the petition sufficient or made sufficient with said twenty (20) days, the Clerk-Treasurer shall so certify to the Council at its next regular meeting and immediately deliver a copy of such a certificate to the officer whose removal is sought, and shall make a record of such delivery.
D. If the petition is sufficient, and if the person whose removal is sought does not resign within five (5) days after the day of delivery of the certificate of sufficiency, the Council shall thereupon fix a day for holding a recall election. The date of the recall election shall be at the next scheduled general or primary election, provided that such an election is scheduled to occur not less than sixty days nor more than ninety days from the date of delivery of the certificate of sufficiency. In the event no general or primary election is scheduled within such time period, Council shall authorize a special election for the purpose of the recall. Such special election shall occur not less than sixty days nor more than ninety days from the date of delivery of the certificate of sufficiency.
E. At a recall election this question shall be placed on the ballot: "Shall (naming the officer) be recalled from office as (name of office)?" with provision on the ballot for voting affirmatively or negatively on such question. If a majority of the votes cast shall be voted affirmatively, such officer shall be considered removed upon the announcement of the official canvass of such election, the office shall be deemed vacant, and such vacancy shall be filled as provided in this Charter. The officer so removed shall not be eligible for appointment to the vacancy created thereby.
F. In the event that the petition demands the removal of the Clerk-Treasurer, then the duties imposed upon the Clerk-Treasurer shall be performed by the Mayor.
(Amendment passed by electorate 11-8-05)