(A) The electors shall have the power to remove from office by a recall election any elected official of the City in the manner provided herein.
(B) If the elected official shall have served twelve months of his or her term, a petition demanding the official's removal may be filed with the Clerk of Council, who shall note thereon the name and address of the person filing the petition and the date of such filing, and deliver to such person a receipt therefor and attach a copy thereof to said petition. Such petition may be circulated in separate parts, but the separate parts shall be bound together and filed as one instrument. Each part shall contain the name and office of the person whose removal is sought and, in not more than 200 words, a specific statement pursuant to which the removal is sought. Such petition shall be signed by at least that number of electors which equals fifteen percent of the electors voting at the last preceding regular municipal election; and if the petition is filed demanding the removal of a ward Council member, such petition shall be signed by at least that number of electors which equals fifteen percent in number of the electors voting in such ward at the last preceding regular municipal election.
(C) Within ten days after the day on which such petitions shall have been filed, the Clerk of Council shall determine whether the signatures amount to at least fifteen percent of the electors voting at the last preceding municipal election. If the Clerk of Council finds that such petition is sufficient, the Clerk shall promptly so certify to Council and shall deliver a copy of such certificate to the person whose removal is sought within five days and record such delivery. If the Clerk of Council finds that such petition is insufficient, the Clerk shall promptly certify the particulars in which such petition is insufficient, deliver a copy of the certificate to the elector or electors responsible for circulation of such petition and make a record of such delivery. The responsible elector or electors shall be allowed a period of ten days following the day on which such delivery was made in which to make the petition sufficient. If the insufficient petition is not made sufficient within the prescribed ten days, such petition shall die for lack of certification.
(D) The Clerk of Council shall at once deliver to the election authorities a copy of the original petition with his or her certificate as to the percentage of electors who signed the same and a certificate as to the date of his or her last mentioned notice to Council. The board of elections shall determine the form, sufficiency and regularity of any such petition in accordance with the general election laws.
(E) If the person whose removal is sought shall not resign within five days after the day on which such delivery shall have been made, Council shall thereupon fix a day for holding a recall election, not less than thirty nor more than forty-five days after the date of such delivery, and shall cause notice of such recall election to be published on the same day of each week, for two consecutive weeks in a newspaper determined by Council to be of circulation in the City. At such recall election, this question shall be placed upon the ballot: "Shall (name of person whose removal is sought) be allowed to continue as (position)?", with the provision on the ballot for voting affirmatively or negatively, and in the event a majority of the vote is negative, such person shall be considered as removed, his or her office shall be deemed vacant, and such vacancy shall be filled as provided herein. The person removed at such recall election shall not be eligible for appointment to the vacancy created thereby. If the person is not removed at such recall election, no further recall petitions shall be filed against him or her for a period of one year following such election. In the event that a recall election is ordered, as provided by this section, for a ward Council member, only the duly qualified electors of the ward which said Council member represents shall be entitled to vote upon the issue of recall.
(F) In the case of an elected official who is removed by recall, the county central committee of the political party with which the last occupant of the office was affiliated, acting through its members who reside in the City, shall appoint a person to hold the office and to perform the powers, duties and functions thereof for the remainder of the unexpired term. Not less then five days nor more than fifteen days after a vacancy occurs, the county central committee, acting through its members who reside in the City, shall meet for the purpose of making an appointment for such vacancy. Not less than four days before the date of such meeting, the chairperson or secretary of such central committee shall send by first class mail to every member of such central committee who resides in the City written notice which shall state the time and place of such meeting and its purpose. A majority of the members of such central committee who reside in the City present at such meeting may make the appointment. In the event that such last occupant of the vacant office was an independent candidate, Council shall make such appointment at the time the vacancy occurs.
(G) A removal by recall election shall not bar the person so removed from becoming a candidate for office in future elections.