The electors shall have the power to remove from office by recall election any elected officer of the Municipality. A petition demanding the recall and removal from office of an elected officer may be filed with the Clerk of Council. Such petition shall be signed by electors equal in number to at least twenty-five (25) percent of the total number of electors casting a Presidential vote in the last Presidential election. Such petition shall state the position of the elected officer, his name, and the reasons for his proposed removal in a statement not to exceed two hundred (200) words. In the case of a Ward Councilman, such petition shall be signed by electors equal in number to at least twenty-five (25) percent of the total number of electors casting a Presidential vote in that Ward in the last Presidential election, and only electors of said Ward shall be eligible to sign such petition and to vote in said recall election.
When a petition for recall of an officer elected at large or of a Ward Councilman is so submitted, the Clerk of Council shall, within twenty (20) days determine its sufficiency. The Clerk shall retain possession of the petition until final determination of sufficiency is made.
If the Clerk finds the petition insufficient, he shall promptly certify the particulars in which the petition is defective and deliver a copy of his certificate to the person who filed the petition with him. Such person shall then be allowed fifteen (15) days from the delivery of such copy of certificate in which to make the petition sufficient by means of a document correcting the particulars certified defective (such document to be hereinafter known as an “amended petition”).
If an amended petition is filed, the Clerk shall within ten (10) days determine its sufficiency. If the amended petition be found insufficient, it shall be retained by the Clerk and declared null and void. If an amended petition is not filed, the original petition shall be retained by the Clerk and declared null and void. A final determination of insufficiency, even if sustained upon court review, shall not prejudice the filing of a new petition.
If the Clerk finds the petition or amended petition sufficient, he shall promptly so certify to Council and to the officer whose removal is sought, and shall make a record of the delivery of such certification to such officer. If the officer named does not resign within five (5) days thereafter, Council shall thereupon fix a date for a recall election, such election to be held not fewer than forty (40) days nor more than fifty-five (55) days from the date of the certification of sufficiency of the petition.
At such recall election, the following question shall be placed upon the ballot: “Shall (naming the officer) be allowed to continue as (naming the office)?,” with provision on the ballot for voting affirmatively or negatively on such question. If a majority of the votes cast at such recall election are in the negative, such officer shall be considered removed, and his office shall be declared vacant, such vacancy to be filled as provided in this Charter. The officer removed by such recall election shall not be eligible for appointment to any vacancy directly or indirectly created thereby.