In Tuesday’s mail, Van Buren Township Supervisor Paul White and Trustee Denise Partridge received notices from the Wayne County Clerk that they had been targeted for a recall and the County Board of Election Commissioners will consider the clarity of the reasons at 10 a.m., Friday, July 10, 2009.
The Election Commissioners will decide only whether the language presented is clear enough for voters to understand if put on a ballot. They do not consider the truth of the charges.
The official recall forms were filled out June 29 and received in the mail by White and Partridge on June 30.
Clerk Leon Wright and Trustee Al Ostrowski were also expected to be targets of the recall, which was announced last November right after the new officials were sworn in. Under law, those wishing to recall the new officials had to wait until they were in office for six months.
Clerk Wright was on vacation and Trustee Ostrowski had just been released from the hospital and late Tuesday was not available to say whether he received a notice, as well.
Supervisor White said his form was signed by Patrick Brooks, 6225 Western, the husband of the Republican candidate Felicia Paris-Brooks who was unsuccessful in her try for the clerk’s position in November.
Brooks listed 8 reasons for seeking White’s recall: 1. Unjust firing of Jerry Champagne. 2. Attempt to replace Champagne with an individual who contributed to his 2008 campaign. 3. Taking no action to stop the offensive and racist emails sent to township employees. 4. Accepting a campaign contribution from a resident who was in litigation with the township at the time. 5. Admittedly taking home and destroying township videos of township meetings. 6. Attempting to divert the purchase of police vehicles to his personal car salesperson. 7. Conspiring with Clerk Wright and Trustees Partridge and Ostrowski to make decisions based on political promises. 8. Failure to place the interests of the residents above his own when making decisions.
Trustee Partridge said her form was signed by Karin LaMothe, who identified herself as Partridge’s friend during the June 23 appeals hearing for Champagne.
LaMothe was an employee of Van Buren Township Parks and Recreation when Partridge, as a union representative, helped her with some problems. LaMothe also had worked for the Van Buren Public Schools.
LaMothe listed the reasons for recall of Partridge as: 1. The unjust firing of Jerry Champagne. 2. Taking no action to prevent the distribution of offensive and racist emails to township employees. 3. Conspiring with the supervisor, clerk, and Trustee Ostrowski to make decisions based on political promises. 4. Failure to place the interests of the residents above her own in making decisions.
If the Elections Commissioners rule that the language is clear enough, the officials targeted have the right to appeal the decision to the Circuit Court within ten days.
Once the language is approved for clarity, the recall supporters will be able to put the recall language on petitions to circulate. The approved language is valid for 180 days after the final date of approval. They will need to get about 2,500 valid signatures for each official being targeted (within a 90-day window period) before the official could be placed on a ballot. Then, the voters will decide.
Because of changes in the law in 2008, a circulator of a recall petition does not have to be a registered voter or a resident of the district represented by the public official whose recall is being sought.