Mayor and city council recall, Albion, Michigan (2017)
| Albion Mayor and City Council recall |
|---|
 |
| Officeholders |
Sonya Brown |
| Recall status |
| See also |
| Recall overview Political recall efforts, 2017 Recalls in Michigan Michigan recall laws Mayoral recalls City council recalls Recall reports |
An effort in Albion, Michigan, to recall Mayor Garrett Brown and City Councilwoman Sonya Brown was initiated in October 2017. Chad Baase filed a second petition against Garrett Brown on November 3, 2017, after his first petition was rejected by the Calhoun County Elections Commission on October 31, 2017. The updated language included a mention of a censure motion brought by two councilmen against Brown over the resignation of City Manager Sheryl Mitchell.[1] The revised petition was approved for circulation by the elections commission on November 20, 2017.[2] A recall petition against Sonya Brown was submitted to the county clerk on November 22, 2017.[3] On December 7, 2017, Baase announced that he ended the effort against Sonya Brown after a conversation with the councilwoman.[4][5][6] The recall effort against Garrett Brown was dropped on January 16, 2018. Baase cited the cost to taxpayers to move forward with the recall.[7]
Recall supporters
Baase's second petition against Garrett Brown included the following language:
| “ |
Whereas on October 5th, 2017, Garrett Brown gave Dr. Sheryl Mitchell scores as low as 2 out of 5 in judgement and decision making. Whereas, on October 13th, 2017, a personal protection order was issued against Garrett Brown for allegedly stalking an Albion resident. Whereas on October 16th, 2017, councilman Maurice Barnes and councilman Andrew French drafted and submitted to council resolution 2017-40 which reflects Dr. Sheryl Mitchell has articulated concerns with the mayor's behavior towards her.[8][9] |
” |
| —Chad Baase (2017) | ||
The petition against Sonya Brown included the following language:
| “ |
Whereas, on October 5th, 2017, Sonya Brown did give Dr. Sheryl Mitchell scores as low as 2.5 in Judgement and Decision Making. Whereas, on October 5th, 2017, Sonya Brown did give Dr. Sheryll Mitchell scores as low as 2.5 in Financial Management and Budgeting. Whereas, In Dr. Sheryll Mitchell's Resignation Letter dated October 11th, 2017 it clearly states, The Mayor and Mayor Pro Tem have a desire to undermine Dr. Mitchell. Whereas, Dr. Mitchell's Resignation Letter Further states, Clearly, the Mayor and Mayor Pro Tem have an issue with Dr. Sheryl Mitchell relative to what they perceive to be a siding with school annexation.[3][9] |
” |
| —Chad Baase (2017) | ||
Language from Baase's first recall petition against Garrett Brown is included below:
| “ |
Noncompliance with city of Albion charter - creating a hostile work environment for Albion City Manager Sheryl Mitchell causing her to submit her resignation letter.[4][9] |
” |
| —Chad Baase (2017) | ||
Mitchell announced her resignation on October 11, 2017, after receiving low scores on her performance evaluation from the mayor and city councilwoman. She received an overall score of 4.5 out of 5 from the entire council, but Garrett Brown and Sonya gave lower scores for judgment and financial management, respectively.[4] Mitchell rescinded her resignation on October 30, 2017.[5]
City Councilmen Maurice Barnes and Andrew French introduced a motion to censure Garrett Brown on October 16, 2017, related to the mayor's relationship with the city manager. A motion to proceed was defeated during the meeting by a 5-2 vote.[4]
Recall opponents
Garrett Brown responded to the second recall petition:
| “ |
It's not helpful and it's actually potentially wasteful in terms of taxpayer dollars. If he were successful, unless there were some other ballot measure, the city would have to foot the entire bill for that election.[1][9] |
” |
| —Garrett Brown (2017) | ||
Sonya Brown released a statement about the Mitchell resignation following a city council meeting on October 16, 2017:
| “ |
Nothing short of all my conversations and interactions with Dr. Mitchell has been respectful and dignified. At no time did either I or Mayor (Garrett) Brown express that we 'lack confidence in' Mitchell's 'ability to do her job.' This is a false, deceptive narrative that is being repeated throughout the community and holds absolutely no merit.[4][9] |
” |
| —Sonya Brown (2017) | ||
Path to the ballot
- See also: Laws governing recall in Michigan
Each recall petition in Michigan must be approved for circulation during a clarity hearing held by the county election commission. This hearing determines if the charges made in the petition are clear enough for a voter to understand. If approved for circulation, a recall organizer can initiate the signature-gathering process.
The Calhoun County Elections Commission held a clarity hearing for the first petition on October 31, 2017.[4] The commission met on November 20, 2017, to consider the second petition. Baase needs to collect at least 439 valid signatures for the mayoral recall to reach the ballot.[10][3]
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Garrett Brown Sonya Brown Albion 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 Battle Creek Enquirer, "New language to recall Albion mayor submitted to county officials," November 3, 2017
- ↑ Battle Creek Enquirer, "Petition language to recall Albion mayor approved," November 20, 2017
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 MLive, "Petition language filed to recall Albion mayor pro tem," November 27, 2017
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 MLive, "Petition language submitted to recall Albion mayor, mayor pro tem," October 19, 2017
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Battle Creek Enquirer, "Drive to recall Albion's mayor comes to abrupt end; city manager walks back resignation," October 31, 2017
- ↑ Battle Creek Enquirer, "Recall of Albion Mayor Pro Tem Sonya Brown is canceled," December 7, 2017
- ↑ MLive, "'Taxpayer burden' prompts sponsor to withdraw petition to recall Albion mayor," January 17, 2018
- ↑ MLive, "New petition language submitted to recall Albion mayor," November 17, 2017
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Fox 17, "Personal protection order, recall petition filed against Albion mayor," October 20, 2017
