Mayor and City Commission recall, Pahokee, Florida (2020)

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Pahokee Mayor and City Commission recall
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Officeholders
Keith Babb
Clara Murvin
Benny Everett
Recall status
Did not go to a vote
See also
Recall overview
Political recall efforts, 2020
Recalls in Florida
Florida recall laws
Mayoral recalls
City council recalls
Recall reports

An effort in Pahokee, Florida, to recall Mayor Keith Babb, Vice Mayor Clara Murvin, and Commissioner Benny Everett was initiated in October 2020.[1] On November 12, 2020, recall organizers submitted enough signatures to begin gathering an additional round of signatures.[2] The Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections Office found a portion of the petitions to be invalid due to the way in which they were submitted.[3]

Recall supporters

The recall was organized by five Pahokee residents grouped under the Pahokee Recall Committee. Petition language cited the following reasons for a recall election:[1]

  • Malfeasance in office and neglect of duty to provide oversight of City Manager Chandler Williamson;
  • Allowing questionable spending by Williamson, including the $150,000 paid to TechnoMarine;
  • Failure to obey Florida Statute 872.02 at the city-owned Port Mayaca Memorial Gardens cemetery;
  • Knowingly permitting discharges of untreated human sewage into Lake Okeechobee for years in violation of federal and state laws;
  • Failure to maintain the marina sewage pump-out system;
  • Failing to comply with the Florida Government-in-the-Sunshine laws by conducting private meetings with two or more commissioners, without the knowledge of the other two commissioners; and,
  • Failure to ensure that the city responds in a timely manner to formal Freedom of Information Act requests for information.

Path to the ballot

See also: Laws governing recall in Florida

Florida law gives petitioners 30 days from the date the first signature is collected to gather signatures from at least 10% of the registered voters within the targeted official's district. Upon signature verification, the targeted official may write a 200-word response, which would be included in the petition circulated for a second round of signature gathering. In the second round, petitioners are required to collect signatures from 15% of the district's registered voters. Once those signatures are verified, the city must schedule a recall election where all registered voters in the district can vote on recalling the official.[1]

Recall organizers were required to submit 304 valid signatures for each of the officials in the first round of signature gathering.[1] The Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections Office found a portion of the submitted petitions invalid because they were submitted as photocopies.[3] On November 20, 2020, the county supervisor verified 262 signatures for Babb, 264 signatures for Murvin, and 223 signatures for Everett.[4]

See also

External links

Footnotes