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Jason Bridges recall, Nantucket, Massachusetts (2022-2023)
| Jason Bridges recall |
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| Officeholders |
| Recall status |
| Signature requirement |
| See also |
| Recall overview Political recall efforts, 2023 Recalls in Massachusetts Massachusetts recall laws City council recalls Recall reports |
An effort to recall Select Board Chair Jason Bridges did not go to a vote in Nantucket, Massachusetts.[1]
Recall supporters
Residents started the recall campaign after the select board voted to hire Michael Cranson of Portsmouth, Rhode Island, as Nantucket's fire chief, after Chief Stephen A. Murphy retired. Recall supporters said that the board had unfairly passed over Deputy Fire Chief Sean Mitchell for the position. Mitchell joined the Nantucket Fire Department in 2006.[1]
The recall affidavit read, "Jason Bridges is being recalled for neglect of his duties arising from his failure to notify the public when a 15-day time period began and ended for the Select Board to act for approving or disapproving the appointment of a fire chief. ... We the undersigned voters of the Town of Nantucket believe that Select Board Chair Bridges’ actions and/or inactions during the 15-day disapproval period outlined above establishes his failure to perform his duties on the Select Board."[2]
In a letter to the editor published in the Nantucket Current, 15 of the recall's supporters identified additional grounds for the campaign.[3]
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Frankly, our concerns go well beyond who Nantucket’s next fire chief is. We feel obligated to point out that the troubles plaguing the Fire Department will likely not be solved just by a new chief. An Inquirer & Mirror article from 2003, cites a study that Town Manager Gibson had contracted out, as former Fire Chief Bruce Watts was set to retire. The study was then used by the Town Manager, to draft a list of expectations she had for incoming chief Everett Pierce (who was hired in 2003 and resigned in 2006). Some of those recommendations were to hire seasonal firefighter/EMTs to help with seasonal demand, to upgrade the call-force training, and to undertake training and management changes to improve performance levels. Since this study was published, those issues (and many more) remain and there have been four fire chiefs…we’re about to meet number five and number six. We wonder then, will the problems plaguing the department even be solved with a new fire chief? Or is it somehow rooted deeper in the way our town is set up to run?[4] |
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Recall opponents
Bridges offered the following comment on the recall campaign to the Nantucket Current.[2]
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That’s a lot of effort to get rid of someone who will be gone in eight months. ... I’m not running again because of family, and I think two terms is enough for me. I’m unfamiliar with the [recall] process, so I guess we’ll go through it. If there’s a process for this, we’ll respect the process. I have not heard of a recall vote, but if the majority of the people want to go down that road, I’m happy to step away. This is a volunteer role that I feel strongly about and put my time towards to give back to the community. It takes time away from family and other things in your life, but it’s completely worth it. Even when you’re trying to make the best decisions for the community, if the community feels like it’s my time to not be in that position, I will respect that.[4] |
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Path to the ballot
- See also: Laws governing recall in Massachusetts
For a recall election to have been scheduled, organizers needed to collect signatures from 20% of registered voters in Nantucket. The town would have had two weeks to determine whether enough valid signatures had been collected.[2]
Recall organizers said in September 2022 that, although they had collected more than the 200 signatures required for an election to be scheduled, they had decided to put the recall campaign on hold. They wrote in a statement, "In the eight months remaining before (Bridges’) term expires, we feel that our time would be better spent on efforts to bring about positive and progressive change in our community and in our local government."[5]
See also
- Recall campaigns in Massachusetts
- Political recall efforts, 2022
- Political recall efforts, 2023
- City council recalls
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Cape Cod Times, "Nantucket's choice for new fire chief ignites backlash, recall effort, petition," August 28, 2022
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Nantucket Current, "Citizens Launch Recall Effort To Remove Bridges From Select Board," August 24, 2022
- ↑ Nantucket Current, "Why We Are Recalling Jason Bridges," August 24, 2022
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ The Inquirer and Mirror, "Effort to recall Select Board chair put on hold," September 16, 2022
