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Mayor and City Commission recall, Pahokee, Florida (2020)
| Pahokee Mayor and City Commission recall |
|---|
 |
| Officeholders |
Clara Murvin Benny Everett |
| Recall status |
| 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
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 South Central Florida Life, "Petition calls for recall of 3 Pahokee commissioners," October 21, 2020
- ↑ South Central Florida Life, "Recall petitions delivered to Pahokee city hall," November 16, 2020
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 South Central Florida Life, "Pahokee recall effort likely to end up in court," December 30, 2020
- ↑ Ballotpedia staff, "Public records request with the Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections," April 27, 2021
