Rhonda Brooks recall, Golden Valley, Arizona (2015)
| Golden Valley Fire District Board recall |
|---|
 |
| Officeholders |
| Recall status |
| Recall election date |
| May 19, 2015 |
| See also |
| Recall overview Political recall efforts, 2015 Recalls in Arizona Arizona recall laws Special district recalls Recall reports |
An effort to recall Rhonda Brooks from her position on the Golden Valley Fire District board in Mohave County, Arizona, was launched in June 2014. A recall election was set for May 19, 2015. Rhonda Brooks was recalled and replaced by Earlene Mahar.[1][2]
This was the second recall petition initiated targeting Brooks. In this case, Brooks was accused of attempting to force fire district chief Tom O'Donohue out of office, filing frivolous legal complaints, failing to comply with public records requests and inappropriately cancelling public contracts.[1]
Her recall attempt revolved, in part, around her efforts to continue contracting with a private ambulance business and to prevent the Golden Valley Fire District's application to provide ambulance and emergency medical services through public funding.[1]
Earlene Mahar was the only one to file as a candidate opposing Brooks. Thus, voters saw Mahar and Brooks on their ballots. Ballots were mailed to eligible voters on April 23, 2015, and were due back by 7 p.m on May 19, 2015.[3]
Election results
| Golden Valley Fire District recall | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Result | Votes | Percentage | ||
 Rhonda Brooks | 414 | 33.96% | ||
 Earlene Mahar | 795 | 65.22% | ||
| Write-in | 10 | 0.82% | ||
| Election results via: Mohave County Elections Office accessed May 19, 2015 | ||||
Recall supporters
Recall supporter arguments
Golden Valley Fire District Director Steve Robinson filed the recall petition against Brooks, and Chief Tom O'Donohue was the first person to sign the petition. Robinson stated, "Rhonda Brooks misled voters by refusing to acknowledge her platform was to force Chief O'Donohue out of office."[1]
The recall petition also argued that Brooks filed "minor" open meeting law complaints with the office of the Arizona attorney general, which cost the fire district thousands of dollars. Furthermore, Brooks was accused of failing to respond to public records requests and canceling over $600,000 in public contracts, according to the petition. Lastly, the petition complained that Brooks stifled the district's attempt to start an ambulance service and, instead, contracted with American Medical Response.[1]
The following statement in support of the recall of Rhonda Brooks appeared on the ballot:[4]
| “ |
Grounds for the Demand of Recall of Rhonda Brooks
|
” |
| —Golden Valley Fire District Director Steve Robinson[4] | ||
Recall opponents
Response from Rhonda Brooks
Rhonda Brooks began her refutation by reminding voters that accusations on a recall need not be truthful and require no evidence and went on to respond to each item in the list of accusations. The full text of the response from Rhonda Brooks that appeared on the ballot is below:[4]
| “ |
Statement of the Defense by Rhonda Brooks
|
” |
| —Rhonda Brooks[4] | ||
Path to the ballot
- See also: Laws governing recall in Arizona
Recall proponents needed to collect 483 signatures. They turned in approximately 750 signatures. The recall petition was verified as sufficient, and the recall election was scheduled to be held on May 19, 2015.[5][6]
The form of the election dictated by law for this type of recall is a special election at which both the targeted official and any opposing candidates that choose to file are presented to voters, along with a statement of the grounds for recall against Rhonda Brooks and a statement from Rhonda Brooks in defense. It was possible that Rhonda Brooks could have been retained through receiving the most votes at the election. Before the recall petition was submitted, Betty Vernon, deputy elections director of the Mohave County Elections Department, explained, "If [Robinson] is able to collect enough signatures then there will be an election. Ms. Brooks will be a candidate and there will be an opposing candidate position for which one or more interested people will file and run for against Ms. Brooks. Ms. Brooks is not automatically recalled with the completion of the signatures."[2][5]
In this case, Earlene Mahar was the only one to file as a candidate opposing Brooks. Therefore, voters saw Mahar and Brooks on their ballots.[3]
See also
External links
Additional reading
- Daily Miner, "Golden Valley voters choose to replace Brooks on fire board," May 20, 2015
- Daily Miner, "Golden Valley Fire's bid for ambulance service hits a snag," February 20, 2015
Recent news
This section links to a Google news search for the term "Rhonda + Brooks + recall"
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Kingman Daily Miner, "Brooks targeted in another GVFD recall," June 30, 2014
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Kingman Daily Miner, "Report criticizes Brooks and a former employee," December 21, 2014
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Kingman Daily Minor, "Brooks, Mahar on ballot for Golden Valley Fire District," April 28, 2015
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Ballotpedia Staff Writer Josh Altic, "Email correspondence with Mohave County Elections Office," accessed May 18, 2015
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Arizona Independent, "GVFD: A Political Storm," August 12, 2014
- ↑ Kingman Daily Miner, "750 sign petition to recall GVFD Director Brooks," October 19, 2014
