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Ballotpedia's 2014 Recall Analysis
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December 15, 2014 (updated September 17, 2024)
By Ballotpedia staff
Ballotpedia tracked 223 recall efforts in 2014 against 386 officials. The efforts against 131 of those officials (33.94%) made the ballot. The recall elections against 82 officials were approved, removing them from office, and the recall elections against 49 officials were defeated, keeping them in office.
In Massachusetts, a mayor refused to sign an order for his own recall election, while a pair of council members skipped out on meetings to deny quorum and delay their own recall. In Arizona, a pair of school board members approved their own buyouts of hundreds of thousands of dollars and the newly-elected State Superintendent of Public Instruction faced a recall just days after her 16,000-vote victory in the general election. A school board member in California whose actions resulted in time limits during open debate was recalled.
Recalls by the numbers
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There were a total of 223 recall efforts against 386 officials tracked by Ballotpedia in 2014. A total of 82 officials were removed from office in recall elections (21.24%), and 49 officials kept their seats after facing recall elections (12.69%). Efforts against 233 recalls were initiated but did not reach the ballot (60.36%). Another 18 officials resigned after recall efforts were started against them (4.66%).
Officials included in recall efforts in 2014 broke down into the following categories: 216 city council members, 50 mayors, 58 school board members, 45 special district officials, two city officials, eight county commissioners, two county officials, two sheriffs, two state legislators, and one state executive.
Recall highlights
Will Flanagan recall, Fall River, Massachusetts (2014)
Flanagan was initially targeted for recall over a pay-as-you-throw waste disposal program and allegedly threatening a city council member with a gun.[1][2] Supporters turned in 50% more than the 2,459 signatures needed to move the recall forward, submitting a total of 3,847.[3] Flanagan declined to resign, so the recall election is scheduled to take place on December 16.
Controversy arose when Flanagan refused to sign the city council order setting the date of his recall.[4] Flanagan also initiated a legal challenge to halt the recall, naming 15 defendants. Among those were city officials he had appointed and recall petitioners. Flanagan disputed the following points:[5]
- Whether City Clerk Alison Bouchard violated the 20-day deadline for petitions when she accepted them on the 21st day because the 20th day fell on a holiday;
- whether Board of Election Commissioners Chairwoman Elizabeth Camara should have given Flanagan nomination papers for the recall; and
- An injunction filed by petitioners to prevent Flanagan's name from appearing in the list of candidates on the second part of the ballot. Flanagan's name will appear on the first part of the ballot asking if he should be recalled by default.
The judge ruled that Bouchard's actions did not invalidate the election and that Flanagan's name will appear at the top of the list of candidates on the second part of the ballot. He would appear at the top because although he might be recalled, he would still remain the incumbent until a replacement is chosen. This makes it possible that Flanagan could both be recalled and then re-elected as his own successor.[5]
Jean Syria and Susan Smiley recall, Lancaster, Massachusetts (2014)
Syria and Smiley were initially targeted for recall after a vote in December 2013 to not renew town administrator Orlando Pacheco's contract. Syria spoke out against the effort, saying, "No one's ever going to make a tough decision for fear of being recalled, and no one's going to run for office." Enough signatures were turned in by late January 2014 to move the recall forward.[6][7] Because no recall provision previously existed in Lancaster, the state legislature had to approve a bill allowing it, which Gov. Deval Patrick (D) signed on June 9, 2014.[8] Supporters then needed to turn in 471 signatures and handed in 571 on July 10, 2014.[9]
Problems arose at a selectmen meeting on July 16, 2014. The three-person meeting was canceled due to lack of quorum when Syria and Smiley did not show up. The town clerk had planned to present the 571 verified signatures at this meeting.[10] The signatures were presented on August 1 instead.[11] Syria told a newspaper days later than the pair could block a vote to accept the petitions.[12] Both selectmen were successfully recalled in an election on November 4. Syria and Smiley were replaced by Jennifer Leone and Eugene Christoph, respectively.[13]
More controversy surfaced following the election. On November 7, 2014, resident Shawn Winsor wrote a public letter accusing former clerk Sue Thompson of obtaining resident contact information while still in her public position. Thompson emailed town residents encouraging them to recall Syria and Smiley. Winsor did not, however, file a formal complaint.[14]
Bobby Garcia and Louie Gonzales recall, Sunnyside Unified School District, Arizona (2014)
Bobby Garcia and Louie Gonzales were both recalled from their positions as at-large representatives on the Sunnyside Unified School District in Arizona. They were replaced by Rebecca Quintero and Eric Griffin.
The recall effort was led by a group called Sunnyside Recall 2013, a group of local residents who opposed Superintendent Manuel Isquierdo. Garcia and Gonzales were supporters of the superintendent along with board member Eva Carrillo Dong. Isquierdo received criticism for various personal actions, including using bankruptcy to avoid foreclosure on his home, owing $150,000 in back taxes, having his driver's license suspended for failing to pay fines, using his district credit card for questionable purchases and using athletes in the district's effort to promote the passage of school bonds measures. Board members Buck Crouch and Daniel Hernandez Jr. opposed Isquierdo. A recall effort against Crouch and Hernandez was started in August 2013, but did not move forward after supporters declined to turn in signatures.[15]
Isquierdo requested a buyout from the school board following the results of the May 20, 2014, recall election. The board approved a buyout by a 3-2 vote during a meeting in early June 2014. Isquierdo will receive $499,500 between June 2014 and December 2015 in exchange for leaving the district with two years remaining on his contract. Recalled board members Garcia and Gonzales voted to approve the buyout prior to the swearing-in of their replacements.[16]
State Superintendent of Public Instruction recall, Arizona (2014)
Diane Douglas (R) faced a recall threat only days after winning a narrow victory over David Garcia (D) for the office of Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction in November. Douglas, a financial analyst and conservative activist, defeated Garcia by 16,000 votes out of 1,464,512 cast. Anthony Espinoza, an elementary school teacher in Phoenix, started an online group called Recall Diane Douglas only days after the election was decided. He argued for the removal of Douglas from office in 2015, citing her lack of educational experience and focus on conservative media during the campaign.[17] The Coalition to Recall Diane Douglas filed as a political committee with the Arizona Secretary of State on November 24, 2014, taking the first official steps toward a recall effort.[18]
Espinoza's effort to recall Douglas in 2015 faces two significant hurdles. State law prohibits the circulation of recall petitions against public officials until six months after their election. With a swearing-in date of January 5, 2015, recall supporters cannot circulate petitions until July. Arizona law also requires recall organizers to gather signatures from registered voters equal to 25 percent of the ballots cast in the 2014 general election. The Coalition to Recall Diane Douglas would need approximately 364,000 valid signatures to force a recall election.[19]
Meredith Ibarra recall, Alisal Union School District, California (2014)
Meredith Ibarra was recalled from her position as District 1 representative on the Alisal Union School District Board of Trustees in California on September 9, 2014, and was replaced by Estrella Thoeni.[20] Ibarra's supporters launched an effort to recall another board member prior to her recall, but the effort did not move forward.
The recall effort against Ibarra was organized by district resident Juan Sandoval who argued Ibarra was "pushing her own agenda" and damaging the reputation of the board.[21] Ibarra had been the lone dissenter in recent board votes and disrupted several meetings after arguing with fellow board members. Board president Marciela Cruz proposed a five-minute time limit for board member comments during a meeting on February 19, 2014. Cruz shut down Ibarra's microphone on several occasions to maintain order during board deliberations. Ibarra and Cruz argued prior to the board's vote on a recall election on May 14, 2014, leading to a unanimous vote to remove Ibarra from the meeting.[22][23]
In apparent retaliation for the recall effort against Ibarra, her supporters launched a recall effort against fellow board member Guadalupe Guzman. According to Guzman, the papers he was served with contained no specific claims against him for the recall, but criticized the board broadly. This included an accusation that the board was not investigating Superintendent John Ramirez Jr. thoroughly enough in a sexual harassment case and that it was not spending district funds appropriately.[24] The recall effort failed to advance.[25]
See also
Footnotes
- ↑ The Herald News, "Group meets outside Government Center to protest pay-as-you-throw, call for Flanagan's ouster," August 5, 2014
- ↑ WPRI, "Judge: no primary in Fall River recall election," November 13, 2014
- ↑ The Herald News, "Recall signatures certified; campaign to oust Mayor Flanagan moves forward," September 26, 2014
- ↑ The Herald News, "Citing 'ethical obligation,' Mayor Flanagan refuses to sign off on recall election," October 14, 2014
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 The Herald News, "Mayoral recall complaint trial starts today," October 27, 2014
- ↑ Sentinel and Enterprise, "Lancaster recall petition pushes on," January 18, 2014
- ↑ News Telegram, "Signatures are certified for Lancaster recall election," January 28, 2014
- ↑ Sentinel and Enterprise, "Senate OKs Lancaster recall election bill," May 16, 2014
- ↑ News Telegram, "Petitions seeking recall of 2 selectmen are in Lancaster clerk's hands," July 10, 2014
- ↑ Sentinel & Enterprise, "LANCASTER BATTLE: Absences force delay on selectmen recall vote," July 17, 2014
- ↑ News Telegram, "Lancaster registrars throw out objections to recall petition signatures," August 1, 2014
- ↑ Sentinel & Enterprise, "Syria says she and Smiley can vote against election to have them ousted from Lancaster Board of Selectmen," August 5, 2014
- ↑ The Item, "Voters recall Lancaster officials; Chandler and Naughton top ballots," November 5, 2014
- ↑ Sentinel & Enterprise News, "Emails spark ethics query in Lancaster recall," November 7, 2014
- ↑ Arizona Daily Star, "Second Sunnyside recall launched," August 20, 2013
- ↑ Arizona Public Media, "Sunnyside Supt Gets $500K Buyout, Calls It 'Best for Everyone'," June 5, 2014
- ↑ Recall Diane Douglas, "Why Recall Douglas?" accessed November 18, 2014
- ↑ 12 News & The Arizona Republic, "Give Diane Douglas a chance, people," November 24, 2014
- ↑ The Arizona Republic, "Schools chief Diane Douglas already faces recall threats," November 17, 2014
- ↑ Monterey County, "Summary Report: Alisal USA TA 1 Recall Election," September 9, 2014
- ↑ The Californian, "Alisal trustee Ibarra served with recall papers," January 22, 2014
- ↑ The Californian, "Ibarra recall bid in hands of election officials," February 13, 2014
- ↑ The Californian, "Alisal sets Sept. 9 recall election," May 15, 2014
- ↑ The Californian, "New Alisal School board recall effort targets Guzman," September 2, 2014
- ↑ The Monterey County Herald: School Bytes, "Total recalls at the Alisal, Salinas City Elementary districts," October 9, 2014
