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Mayor and city council recall, Ypsilanti, Michigan (2023-2024)
| Ypsilanti mayor and city council recall |
|---|
 |
| Officeholders |
Jennifer Symanns Desirae Simmons |
| Recall status |
Resigned (Symanns) Recall defeated (Simmons) |
| Recall election date |
| May 7, 2024 (Simmons) |
| Signature requirement |
| See also |
| Recall overview Political recall efforts, 2024 Recalls in Michigan Michigan recall laws Mayoral recalls City council recalls Recall reports |
An effort to recall Mayor Nicole Brown did not go to a vote in Ypsilanti, Michigan.[1]
An election to recall Ward 3 City Councilwoman Desirae Simmons was scheduled for May 7, 2024. The Washtenaw County Republican Party did not nominate a Republican candidate to run against Simmons. Candidates without party affiliations needed to file a qualifying petition with the Washtenaw County Clerk if they wished to appear on the ballot. One candidate, Rod Johnson filed to run against Simmons. Simmons won the recall election.[2][3][4]
Ward 2 City Councilwoman Jennifer Symanns submitted a notice of resignation on December 2, 2023. Her resignation was effective on December 31, 2023.[5]
Recall vote
General election
Special general election for Ypsilanti City Council Ward 3
Incumbent Desirae Simmons defeated Rod Johnson in the special general election for Ypsilanti City Council Ward 3 on May 7, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Desirae Simmons (D) | 52.1 | 467 | |
| Rod Johnson (Independent) | 47.8 | 429 | ||
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.1 | 1 | ||
| Total votes: 897 | |||
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Recall supporters
Andrea Linn submitted the petition language for Brown, Kim Porter-Hoppe for Symanns, and Michael Newberry for Simmons. According to the petitions, Brown, Symanns, and Simmons "voted to approve the cash purchase of an industrial building at 599 S. Mansfield in the city of Ypsilanti for $3.7 million dollars; this property was previously sold in October 2022 for $1.1 million dollars."[6][7][8]
The building was intended to replace Ypsilanti's current Department of Public Services yard, which has structural issues. Former Ypsilanti mayor and recall organizer Cheryl Farmer has said the decision to purchase a new building was fiscally irresponsible. On December 5, 2023, the city council rescinded the plan to purchase the property.[1][9][10][11]
Recall opponents
Regarding the recall, Brown has said, "Hopefully folks see the good work and the positive work and the intention behind forward movement and change in this community that I’m hoping to lead and spearhead."[1]
Simmons said, "One of my important goals in this role is to try to minimize liability for the city, and that cost is innumerable," and "I would rather go with a cost that I know than one that I don’t know, and I still very much believe that a lack of action on our part would lead to a bigger liability for the city."[1]
Symanns did not return a request to comment from MLive.[1]
Path to the ballot
- See also: Laws governing recall in Michigan
No specific grounds are required for recall in Michigan. To get a recall on the ballot in Michigan, recall supporters must collect signatures equal in number to 25% of voters in the jurisdiction in the last gubernatorial election. They have 60 days between the collection of the first signature and the collection of the last signature on the petition. Recall petitions are eligible to collect signatures for 180 days.[12][13][14]
A clarity and factual hearing to determine whether the petition language could be circulated was scheduled for December 8, 2023.[1] On December 6, 2023, recall organizers announced that they were no longer pursuing the recall against Brown. The Washtenaw County Election Commission approved the language of the recall petition against Simmons for circulation during a hearing on December 8, 2023.[15][16]
Recall context
- See also: Ballotpedia's Recall Report
Ballotpedia covers recall efforts across the country for all state and local elected offices. A recall effort is considered official if the petitioning party has filed an official form, such as a notice of intent to recall, with the relevant election agency.
The chart below shows how many officials were included in recall efforts from 2012 to 2024 as well as how many of them defeated recall elections to stay in office and how many were removed from office in recall elections.
See also
- Ballotpedia's Recall Report
- Ypsilanti, Michigan
- Recall campaigns in Michigan
- Political recall efforts, 2023
- Political recall efforts, 2024
- City council recalls
- Mayoral recalls
External links
- Search Google News for this topic
- Ypsilanti, Michigan
- Rod Johnson campaign website
- Desirae Simmons campaign Facebook page
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 MLive, "Vote for $3.7M building purchase sparks recall campaign against 3 Ypsilanti leaders," November 27, 2023
- ↑ MLive, "Ypsilanti council member will face recall election in May," February 9, 2024
- ↑ 89.1 WEMU, "Ypsilanti City Council recall election will go forward, Independent candidate Rod Johnson joins race," February 20, 2024
- ↑ MLive, "Ypsilanti City Council member keeps seat in May 7 recall election," May 8, 2024
- ↑ MLive, "Ypsilanti city council member resigns, cites difficulty attending meetings," December 5, 2023
- ↑ Washtenaw County website, "Nicole Brown recall petition," accessed December 5, 2023
- ↑ Washtenaw County website, "Jennifer Symanns recall petition," accessed December 5, 2023
- ↑ Washtenaw County website, "Desirae Simmons recall petition," accessed December 5, 2023
- ↑ City of Ypsilanti, "Public Services Relocation," accessed December 5, 2023
- ↑ MLive, "2 votes, resignation threats & crumbling buildings: Why emotions ran high at Ypsilanti meeting," November 10, 2023
- ↑ WEMU, "Ypsilanti City Council votes to renovate DPS yard, rather than relocate," December 7, 2023
- ↑ Michigan Election Law, "Act 116 of 1954: 168.955 Recall petition; number of signatures; certification." accessed October 13, 2023
- ↑ 'Michigan Election Law, "Act 116 of 1954: 168.961 Recall petition; filing; receipt; duties of filing official; duties of city or township clerk; certificate; duties of village clerk; use of qualified voter file." accessed October 13, 2023
- ↑ Michigan Election Officials' Manual, "Chapter 18 Recall Process," August 2017
- ↑ MLive, "Group seeking to recall Ypsilanti leaders gets green light to circulate petitions," December 8, 2023
- ↑ MLive, "Ypsilanti citizens group ends recall effort against mayor," December 7, 2023
