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Recall campaigns in Washington
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Legend:
= The recall target was recalled by voters.
= When a recall vote was held, voters rejected the attempt to recall the politician (that is, voters decided to keep/retain the targeted politician).
= The recall effort did not collect enough signatures to force a recall vote.
= The targeted politician resigned after a recall campaign was begun, and before the vote on the recall would have taken place.
= A judge prevented the recall from going forward.
= A recall election is scheduled.
Jefferson County: Dave Ward and Mike Whittaker
Mount Baker School Board: Russ Pfeiffer-Hoyt
Tenino: Robert Scribner and Frank Anderson
Seattle: Sherry Carr
Snohomish County: Aaron Reardon
Cowlitz County: Mark Nelson
Coulee City: Rich Heiberg
San Juan Island: School board
Seattle: Richard Conlin
Spokane County: Steve Tucker
Pierce County: Dale Washam
Kent School District: School board
Cowlitz County: Ned Piper and Merritt Ketcham
Public Lands Commissioner: Peter Goldmark
Yakima: Rick Ensey
Ballotpedia's 2012 Recall Analysis
| State | Targeted officials | Recalled | Retained | Resigned |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arkansas | 9 | 2 | 4 | 0 |
| Alaska | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Arizona | 19 | 6 | 4 | 2 |
| California | 87 | 11 | 4 | 6 |
| Colorado | 16 | 2 | 6 | 2 |
| District of Columbia | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Florida | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Georgia | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Idaho | 10 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Kansas | 10 | 5 | 4 | 0 |
| Louisiana | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Maine | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Massachusetts | 7 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| Michigan | 79 | 5 | 13 | 3 |
| Minnesota | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Missouri | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Montana | 4 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Nebraska | 9 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| Nevada | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| New Jersey | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| New Mexico | 7 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| North Dakota | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| Ohio | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Oklahoma | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Oregon | 24 | 3 | 8 | 4 |
| Rhode Island | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Tennessee | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Texas | 17 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Washington | 7 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
| West Virginia | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Wisconsin | 12 | 3 | 4 | 1 |
| Total | 370 | 54 | 54 | 24 |
Fire district recall set for November 13
QUILCENE, Washington: Fire commissioners Dave Ward and Mike Whittaker are used to fighting fires, but over the past 16 months, they've had to fight a recall effort aimed at removing the pair from office. On November 13, the duo will face voters in a recall election in Jefferson County[1] The recall effort was launched in June 2011 after local citizens accused Ward and Whittaker of falsifying commissioner meeting minutes and violating the Open Public Meetings Act. According to the accusations, Ward directed a secretary to falsify meeting minutes to make it appear as if the fire board had authorized the district's participation in a Public Employees' Retirement system. Whittaker approved the minutes, despite knowing that they inaccurately reflected what had actually happened at the meeting.[2] Ward and Whittaker also came under fire for their creation of a chief operating officer job for the fire district and the hiring of Ward for that position.[3]
In accordance with the laws governing recall in Washington, a judge had to verify that the charges against the recall targets were sufficient to warrant a recall effort. Judge Anna Laurie approved one of the five charges against Ward and Whittaker. In August of this year, the Washington Supreme Court ruled that a possible violation of the Open Public Meetings Act represented sufficient cause for a recall effort. Sufficient recall signatures were submitted in September, and the single-issue, all mail-in recall election was scheduled for November 13, 2012.[4]
After the court's ruling, Shane Seaman, the lawyer for Ward and Whittaker, filed a motion for reconsideration of the Supreme Court's ruling. Seaman also filed a motion to postpone the mailing of election ballots until the Supreme Court decided whether it would reconsider the case. The motion for reconsideration was denied, and ballots were mailed as scheduled.[3]
- ↑ Port Townsend Leader, "Recall election set for two Quilcene Fire District commissioners", September 24, 2012
- ↑ Port Townsend Leader, "Judge OKs recall on Quilcene fire commissioners, confirms minutes of official meeting were falsified", November 2, 2011
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Peninsula Daily News, "High court action clears way for Quilcene recall bid", October 20, 2012
- ↑ Port Townsend Leader, "Court to Quil: Recall is OK", August 15, 2012
See also
- Laws governing recall in Washington
- State of Washington Recall of Officials, Amendment 8 (1912)
- Washington Recall of Elective Officers, Referendum 4 (1916)
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