Lou Samson recall, Clawson, Michigan (2021-2022)
| Clawson city council recall |
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| Officeholders |
| Recall status |
| Signature requirement |
| See also |
| Recall overview Political recall efforts, 2022 Recalls in Michigan Michigan recall laws City council recalls Recall reports |
An effort to recall City Councilman Lou Samson did not qualify for the ballot in Clawson, Michigan, after organizers were not able to collect the required number of signatures.[1][2]
Recall supporters
Former city council members Matthew Ulbrich and Susan Moffitt initiated the recall effort. Organizers said that they were trying to recall Samson because he had voted to appoint George Georges to the city council in November 2021, when that appointment should have been left to the newly elected city council members. They also objected to his decision to put several items on a city council meeting agenda in November 2021, including "consideration of terminating all part-time positions within the City till an acceptable budget is approved" and "consideration of suspending all promotions until an acceptable budget is presented and approved."[3][1]
On the pro-recall website Recall Lou, supporters said, "Clawson City Councilman Lou Samson was elected to a four-year term in November 2019. Since then, he has displayed disregard for voters, disrespect for city employees and fellow Councilmembers, and been unresponsive to the community."[3]
Recall opposition
Samson gave the following response to the campaign to C&G Newspapers: "I was bringing all that up because if we don’t pass a budget or have a good budget, that’s a reality someday. ... We still don’t have a budget we can trust, and the city is now going to ask the citizens for … a new tax on people. I don’t believe in new taxes. I think we need to financially be able to do our job and save the citizens from paying higher taxes and higher water bills.”[1]
He added, "George was appointed by me because he was already on council and up to speed. ... Why wouldn’t you reappoint the guy who’s already doing it and had already been doing it for three to four months?"[1]
Path to the ballot
- See also: Laws governing recall in Michigan
Organizers filed recall petition language with Oakland County in December 2021. They needed to collect 1,586 signatures by the end of February 2022 in order to place a special recall election on the November ballot.[3] Organizers ended the recall campaign after they were unable to collect the required number of signatures by the deadline.[2]
See also
- Recall campaigns in Michigan
- Political recall efforts, 2021
- Political recall efforts, 2022
- City council recalls
External links
Footnotes
