Gary Norton and Thomas Wheeler recall, East Cleveland, Ohio (2016)
| East Cleveland Mayor and City Council recall |
|---|
 |
| Officeholders |
Thomas Wheeler |
| Recall status |
| Recall election date |
| December 6, 2016 |
| See also |
| Recall overview Political recall efforts, 2016 Recalls in Ohio Ohio recall laws Mayoral recalls City council recalls Recall reports |
An effort in East Cleveland, Ohio, to recall Mayor Gary Norton and City Councilman Thomas Wheeler from their positions was launched in August 2016. Recall organizers Pecolia Standberry and Devin Branch submitted sufficient signatures for a recall to be held on December 6, 2016.[1] The recalls of Norton and Wheeler were approved by voters. Neither vote qualified for an automatic recount as state law allows for automatic recounts for any local election with a margin of victory under 0.5 percent.[2] Learn more about responses to the recall here and click here to read a summary of the county's election profile for East Cleveland.
Norton and Wheeler faced previous recall efforts from city residents. A 2015 recall effort against Norton did not reach the ballot due to a lack of signatures. Wheeler survived recall votes in December 2015 and June 2016.
Recall vote
A recall election for the offices held by Norton and Wheeler was held on December 6, 2016. Voters were asked whether they want to retain or recall each official.[1][3]
| Recall of Gary Norton | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Result | Votes | Percentage | ||
 Recall | 548 | 50.93% | ||
| Retain | 528 | 49.07% | ||
| Recall of Thomas Wheeler | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Result | Votes | Percentage | ||
| Recall | 229 | 52.05% | ||
| Retain | 211 | 47.95% | ||
Sample ballots
The following sample ballot was used in Ward 3 for the mayoral and city council recalls:
You can navigate the document by zooming in or out with the + and - buttons or using the vertical scrollbar.
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Voters in Wards 2 and 4 used the following ballot format for the mayoral race:
You can navigate the document by zooming in or out with the + and - buttons or using the vertical scrollbar.
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Recall supporters
Standberry filed a petition against Wheeler for "being rudely derelict in performing his duty as expressly imposed by law."[4] She sought recalls against Wheeler in December 2015 and June 2016. Branch filed a petition against Norton for negligence in enforcing city laws, incurring excessive public debt, and lack of transparency in his support for annexation by Cleveland.[4] The recall effort was initiated following stalled discussions with neighboring Cleveland to annex East Cleveland.[1] East Cleveland also considered filing for bankruptcy at the time of the recall petition drive.[5]
Norton pushed for annexation by Cleveland beginning with the city's fiscal emergency in 2012 and Wheeler moved toward supporting annexation in 2016 after years of supporting other solutions to keep East Cleveland intact.[6]
Recall opponents
Norton issued the following statement regarding the recall to local media:
| “ |
East Cleveland will select it's next mayor 10 months after this needless recall election. This is a horrible expenditure of funds given the city's current financial provision, and beyond that, switching a single mayor or single councilman will have no impact on the city's financial situation and the city's economy.[1][7] |
” |
| —Gary Norton (2016) | ||
The editorial board for The Plain Dealer criticized the recall effort on December 2, 2016:
| “ |
JEERS . . . to next Tuesday's costly and unnecessary recall election for East Cleveland Mayor Gary Norton and City Council President Thomas Wheeler. Two prior recall efforts against Wheeler failed; a prior recall effort against the two-term mayor didn't have enough signatures to make the ballot. Norton has issues - the Ohio Elections Commission has fined him $114,100 for allegedly mishandling campaign finance documents, for instance. But the recall will cost the financially struggling city up to $30,000 that it could put to better use. A regular mayoral election will be held in fewer than 10 months. There was no reason to rush.[8][7] |
” |
| —The Plain Dealer (2016) | ||
Noteworthy events
Altercation between Norton and Branch on Election Day
On November 8, 2016, East Cleveland police were called to Mayfair Elementary School in response to a call by Norton. In the police report, Norton claimed that Branch hit his arm while both were speaking with voters outside of the school. Branch disputed Norton's claim in local media, arguing that the mayor was the aggressor and called the police to discredit the recall.[9][10] Norton posted bond on November 18, 2016, entered a not guilty plea in a hearing on November 23, 2016, and an arraingment was held on December 1, 2016.[11]
Recall statistics
The Cuyahoga County Board of Elections detailed the following statistics about this recall election in its election profile published November 28, 2016:[12]
- 12,688 registered voters lived in East Cleveland
- 72 percent of registered voters identify as nonpartisan, 27 percent identify as Democrats, and 1 percent identify as Republicans
- Recall elections against Wheeler in 2015 and 2016 each yielded 7 percent turnout
Path to the ballot
- See also: Laws governing recall in Ohio
Branch required at least 560 valid signatures to force a recall election against Norton, while Standberry needed at least 119 valid signatures for a recall against Wheeler. The Cuyahoga County Board of Elections certified 251 valid signatures for the Wheeler recall and 630 valid signatures for the Norton recall.[1] The county estimated a $25,000 expense for the recall election.[5]
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms 'East Cleveland' 'recall'. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Cleveland.com, "East Cleveland mayor, council president to face recall in special election," September 10, 2016
- ↑ National Conference of State Legislatures, "AUTOMATIC RECOUNTS," October 26, 2016
- ↑ Cuyahoga County Board of Elections, "Election Results," accessed December 6, 2016
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Nick Katers, "Email exchange with Brent Lawler," November 29, 2016
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Cleveland.com, "East Cleveland mayor claims resident assaulted him on Election Day," November 21, 2016
- ↑ Associated Press, "APNewsBreak: Poor suburb softens on merger with Cleveland," May 26, 2016
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Cleveland.com, "East Cleveland recall election deserves a Jeer: Jeer of the Day: Cheers & Jeers," December 2, 2016
- ↑ Cleveland.com, "East Cleveland mayor claims resident assaulted him on Election Day," November 21, 2016
- ↑ East Cleveland, Ohio, "Incident/Offense Report 16-04437," November 8, 2016
- ↑ East Cleveland Municipal Court, "Traffic/Criminal Case Summary," accessed November 29, 2016
- ↑ Cuyahoga County Board of Elections, "Election Profile: December 6, 2016 East Cleveland Recall Election," November 28, 2016
