Golden Recall Effort Fails
As The Golden Transcript reports:
The movement to recall six sitting city council members including the mayor fell short on Monday, Feb. 23 when recall organizers failed to turn in any documentation by the 5 p.m. deadline…
…Petitions to recall Smith, and council members Karen Oxman, Joe Behm, Diane Chesbro, Bill Fisher and Marjorie Sloan were filed with the City Clerk’s office in December. The petitions claimed council had been fiscally irresponsible, lacked civility and improperly convened executive sessions.
Ward One Councilwoman Mary Weaver was the only sitting council member not recalled.
Recall organizers then had 60 days to collect enough signatures to force a special election with an estimated cost of $50,000.
“I’m glad the citizens of Golden recognize that the recall petitions are intended for serious breaches of the public’s trust, not for petty disagreements about city policy decisions” said City Manager Mike Bestor.
Phone calls made to two recall supporters were not returned, A third recall supporter declined to comment.
This is good news for many reasons, not the least that the city won’t have to spend unnecessary money for a recall election when a general election will be held in November anyway. There was no real reason for the recall effort aside from the personal gripes of a small minority.