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William Lantigua recall, Lawrence, Massachusetts (2011)
| Lawrence Mayor recall |
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| Officeholders |
| Recall status |
| See also |
| Recall overview Political recall efforts, 2011 Recalls in Massachusetts Massachusetts recall laws Mayoral recalls Recall reports |
An initial effort to recall William Lantigua from his position as mayor of Lawrence, Massachusetts, fell short in August 2011 when recall supporters failed to turn in enough signatures to force a recall election.[1] Recall organizers had begun collecting signatures on recall petitions in early July.[2]
In October 2011, recall proponents announced that they were launching a second recall effort against Lantigua.[3] The second effort fell short when recall organizers failed to have the affidavit seeking the recall notarized.[4] A third recall attempt was launched in November 2011.[5][6] The signature submission deadline for the latest recall attempt was January 15, 2012.[7] Citing a fear of retaliation, recall organizers did not submit enough signatures to force a recall election, and the recall effort was abandoned.[8]
Background
As of 2011, the city of Lawrence had a population of about 70,000, and a majority of the city's residents were Latino. At the time of the recall campaign, Lawrence was one of the poorest cities in Massachusetts.
Lantigua, who was once a member of the Massachusetts State Legislature, was elected to the position of mayor of Lawrence in 2009.[9] Born in the Dominican Republic, Lantigua was the first Latino to be elected mayor of a city in Massachusetts.[9]
Reasons for recall
A group called "It's Your Right" spearheaded the first recall effort. The Rev. Edwin Rodriguez, who later ran for city council, was the leader of this group.[10] Explaining the grounds for the recall campaign against Lantigua, the group said, "He is incompetent, tries to intimidate people who oppose him, has divided Anglos and Latinos and has tarnished Lawrence's image."[11]
At the time of the recall campaign, Lantigua was under state and federal investigation for possible campaign finance violations, corruption, narcotics, weapons, bid-rigging, and suspicious international travel.[1][12]
A group called "Uniting Lawrence", led by Josué Hernández, was behind the second recall effort.[3] Hernandez said Lantigua was "not capable and qualified to run the city."[10][13]
The recall affidavit listed six reasons for recalling Lantigua, including a state Department of Education report which deemed him "unqualified" to lead school committee meetings and his "callous behavior" and "disrespectful" body language at a peace march in September 2011.[10]
Path to the ballot
First attempt
Recall supporters would have needed to collect the signatures of 5,232 registered voters by August 8, 2011, which represented 15% of the city's registered voters.[2] In August, the city's Board of Registrars confirmed that recall organizers had handed in only 4,366 valid signatures of the 5,232 required to force a recall election. Recall supporters had turned in 5,500 signatures, but city officials ruled that over 1,000 of them were invalid.[14] Despite challenging the board's findings, saying that a number of valid signatures had been wrongfully rejected, recall supporters came up short in their first effort.[1]
Recall supporters alleged that their efforts were sabotaged by Lantigua supporters within City Hall, after discovering that the city clerk had failed to sign and date each page of the petition that he distributed to petition drive organizers at the beginning of the recall process. Organizers alleged that, because of this clerical error, there would have been no way for the Board of Registrars to verify that the petitions had been signed within the necessary time period.[15][12]
Second attempt
To formally launch the second recall attempt, recall proponents would have needed to submit 100 voter signatures. If those signatures had been validated, supporters would have had 30 days to collect the signatures of 5,232 voters, or 15% of registered voters as of the last election.[3] If the second batch of signatures had been validated, the city council would have had to order a recall election within 60 days.[12] In early November, recall supporters turned in 100 signatures to the city. However, the affidavit had not been notarized, which rendered the signatures legally invalid.[4]
Third attempt
Recall organizers launched a third recall attempt in November 2011. The group Uniting Lawrence had a new affidavit drafted and notarized. Recall organizers said they collected over 300 signatures outside of polling places on the November 8th election.[5]
Organizers turned in 358 signatures on November 28th, initiating the recall process. They had until January 15th, 2012, to submit an additional 5,382 signatures.[6] In December 2011, the petitions had to be reprinted after City Attorney Charles Boddy ruled that the petitions needed to have a Spanish translation.[7]
On January 15th, despite having collected thousands of signatures, recall organizer Josue Hernandez submitted just 17 signatures to the city clerk. He said he was withholding the additional signatures to protect signers from being intimidated and to prevent the risk of signatures being thrown out on a technicality. Hernandez said recall efforts would continue, and "We need somebody who knows how to run this process a fair way."[8]
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Boston.com, "Lantigua recall drive falls far short," August 13, 2011
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Eagle Tribune, "Recall process started," July 8, 2011
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Boston.com, "Another Lantigua recall effort begins," October 11, 2011
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Eagle Tribune, "Lantigua recall stalls at first step a second time," November 5, 2011
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Eagle Tribune, "Volunteers at polls for 3rd Lantigua recall attempt," November 9, 2011
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Eagle Tribune, "Group starts fourth attempt to recall Lantigua," November 29, 2011
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Eagle Tribune, "Recall petition effort continues; fate of 500 signatures may be in courts," December 24, 2011 (dead link)
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Eagle Tribune, "Recall reverse: Organizers turn in only 17 signatures," January 15, 2012
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 News Times, "Lawrence, Mass., mayor remains defiant under fire," May 14, 2011
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 Eagle Tribune, "Second Lantigua recall effort starts," October 27, 2011
- ↑ Eagle Tribune, "Lantigua recall papers to be filed this week, group leader says," April 26, 2011
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 Eagle Tribune, "2nd Lantigua recall effort ready to start," October 25, 2011
- ↑ Eagle Tribune, "Editorial: Dirty tricks against recall organizer part of a sinister pattern," January 8, 2012 (dead link)
- ↑ Eagle Tribune, "Lantigua recall effort turns in just enough signatures," August 8, 2011
- ↑ Boston.com, "Foes of Lawrence mayor say petition is invalid due to city’s clerical error," August 14, 2011
