Saugus Selectmen recall, Massachusetts (2014)
From Ballotpedia
| Saugus Selectmen recall |
|---|
|
| Officeholders |
| Ellen Faiella Maureen Dever Stephen Castinetti Paul Alla |
| Recall status |
| Recall approved |
| Recall election date |
| March 17, 2015 |
| See also |
| Recall overview Political recall efforts, 2015 Recalls in Massachusetts Massachusetts recall laws City council recalls Recall reports |
An effort to recall Chairman Ellen Faiella, Vice Chairman Maureen Dever and selectmen Stephen Castinetti and Paul Alla in Saugus, Massachusetts from their positions was launched in September 2014.[1] The recall election was scheduled for March 17, 2015.[2] All four selectmen were successfully recalled.[3]
Recall proponent arguments
The officials are targeted for recall over the September 15 suspension of Town Manager Scott Crabtree.[1]
Path to the ballot
- See also: Laws governing recall in Massachusetts
Supporters have 25 days to gather 4,420 signatures, which is 25 percent of the town's 17,682 registered voters. Petitioners may sign for any lawmaker and are not restricted by districts.[1] Petitions submitted to the town clerk included roughly 5,400 signatures for each of the four selectmen. The signatures were verified and the recall was scheduled for March 17, 2015.[4][2]
On November 14, 2014, Board of Registrars member Gary Butt resigned from his position over this recall. Butt disagreed with the recall process, saying "I’ll put it the way my father would have, if you think this recall process is good for our town you need your head examined." Butt was one of the members assigned to verify the submitted signatures.[5]
Another board member not involved in the recall, Joanne D. Rappa, resigned over the recall in late February 2015. She claimed that a copy of the approved ballot was sent out early, compromising the election. Her term was scheduled to expire on March 31, 2015.[6]
On February 26, 2015, a pro-selectman PAC brought a forgery complaint in the case of the recall against Ellen Faiella. None of the group actually signed the petitions, however, so the claim was not official. An outside handwriting expert hired by the PAC identified more discrepancies in the signatures than Town Clerk Ellen Schena, thus leading to the allegations of forgery.[7]
See also
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 itemlive.com, " Effort to recall Saugus selectmen underway," October 17, 2014
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 northofboston.wickedlocal.com, "Saugus selectmen order recall election," January 7, 2015
- ↑ The Boston Globe, "Saugus recalls four selectmen from office," March 18, 2015
- ↑ Beverly Citizen, "Signatures turned in for Saugus selectmen recall," November 12, 2014
- ↑ wickedlocal.com, "Butt resigns from Saugus Board of Registrars," December 4, 2014
- ↑ The Recall Elections Blog, "Massachusetts: Sagus Board of Register's member resigned in protest over recall," February 24, 2015
- ↑ itemlive.com, "Forgery suspected in Saugus recall," February 27, 2015
