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Sanders County Sewer District at Paradise recall, Montana (2021)
| Sanders County Sewer District recall |
|---|
 |
| Officeholders |
Rick McCollum |
| Recall status |
| Recall election date |
| August 24, 2021 |
| See also |
| Recall overview Political recall efforts, 2021 Recalls in Montana Montana recall laws Special district recalls Recall reports |
A recall election seeking to remove two of the five board members of the Sanders County Sewer District at Paradise in Montana was held by mail-in ballot in August 2021. Voters had until August 24, 2021, to turn in their ballots. A majority of voters cast ballots in favor of recalling Board President Sunny Chase and member Rick McCollum.[1][2][3][4]
The recall effort was started by a group of residents that opposed putting a sewer system in Paradise, Montana. The board voted in favor of the sewer project in May 2020. The town received a $3.5 million grant to help cover the cost of the project. The town took out a loan of $770,000 from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development to cover the rest of the cost. To pay for the loan, residents were to be taxed $185, according to The Sanders County Ledger.[5]
Recall vote
Sunny Chase recall, 2021
Sunny Chase lost the Sanders County Sewer District at Paradise recall election on August 24, 2021.
Recall Vote |
% |
Votes |
|||
| ✖ | Yes |
51.4
|
36 | ||
No |
48.6
|
34 | |||
Total Votes |
70 | ||||
|
|
Rick McCollum recall, 2021
Rick McCollum lost the Sanders County Sewer District at Paradise recall election on August 24, 2021.
Recall Vote |
% |
Votes |
|||
| ✖ | Yes |
51.5
|
35 | ||
No |
48.5
|
33 | |||
Total Votes |
68 | ||||
|
|
Recall supporters
Cody Lampman, a resident of Paradise, Montana, filed the notice of intent to recall. The notice said "that Chase attended meetings with other government agencies as a representative of the sewer board without board approval and approved invoices to Great West Engineering without board approval," according to The Sanders County Ledger.[5]
Katy French, another resident of Paradise and a recall supporter, said in a press release:
| “ | Lampman asserts that the individual directors have violated their oaths of office to uphold the Montana Constitution and the laws of the State of Montana ... Specifically, Article II, Section 9, depriving citizens of the right to examine documents or to observe deliberations of all public bodies; and Article II, Section 8, in that the public has a right to expect government agencies to afford reasonable opportunity for citizen participation in the operation of agency activities. These rights listed within the Montana Constitution are codified in state law.[5][6] | ” |
Recall opponents
In reaction to the recall effort, Chase said the board had gone through the process of putting in a sewer system in good faith. She said she saw it as a necessity for the town. “We have done nothing wrong except not be aware of proper procedure,” said Chase.[5]
Commissioner Carol Brooker said she did not believe that the recall effort would stop the sewer project as the board had already signed agreements. She said construction bids were slated to begin in the spring of 2021.[5]
Path to the ballot
- See also: Laws governing recall in Montana
The recall petitions were approved for circulation in February 2021, after the notice of intent to recall was filed with the Sanders County Courthouse. To get the recall on the ballot, supporters had to submit signatures equal to 15% of registered voters in the town of Paradise. The petitions were submitted with 43 signatures, which was over the threshold, on February 25, 2021.[5] The county had 30 days to verify the signatures.[7]
The Sanders County Clerk and Recorder's Office verified the signatures and collected rebuttals. Following the timeline laid out in state statute, the election was called for in May 2021 and scheduled for August 24, 2021.[1][8]
See also
External links
- Search Google News for this topic
- Sanders County Board and Committees
- Sanders County Clerk and Recorder
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Abbey Smith, “Email communication with Sanders County Clerk and Recorder Nichol Scribner," June 1, 2021
- ↑ Sanders County, Montana, "Boards & Committees," accessed March 12, 2021
- ↑ The Sanders County Ledger, "Paradise to vote on sewer board," August 19, 2021
- ↑ The Sanders County Ledger, "Paradise residents vote in favor of recall," August 26, 2021
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 The Sanders County Ledger, "Petition filed to recall Paradise sewer members," February 25, 2021
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ The Sanders County Ledger, "Paradise sewer board hears from residents," March 11, 2021
- ↑ Abbey Smith, “Email communication with Sanders County Clerk and Recorder Nichol Scribner," March 26, 2021
