The signatures collected to recall Alderman Greg Rose were delivered to Clintonville City Hall, Friday, Aug. 22.
Clintonville Clerk Peggy Johnson confirmed that the signatures were submitted. When asked how many signatures were collected, she said she hadn’t looked at the documents as she was on out of the office on Aug. 22. She did say that 56 signatures were needed to force a recall election.
William VanDaalwyk, who originally filed the Statement of Intent to Circulate the Recall Petition on July 17 and had 60 days to collect the signatures, said the petition turned in contained 87 signatures, 31 more than were needed.
“The petition speaks for itself,” VanDaalwyk said. “The numbers were good numbers.”
The next step of the recall process is certifying the signatures, Johnson said.
To continue the process Johnson said she will be referring to a document put out by the Wisconsin Government Accountability Board called, “Recall of Local Officials.”
According to that document, “within 31 days after the petition is ‘offered for filing,’ the filing officer is required to determine the sufficiency of the petition.”
The filing officer must verify:
• The format of the petition follows the requirements of 8.40 Wis. Stats.
• The petition contains all the information required under 9.10, Wis. Stats., and clearly informs the electorate of the intentions of the petitioner.
• Each signer is a qualified elector of the district represented by the officeholder.
• The date of signing for each elector is within the 60-day circulation period, and not later than the date the certification was signed by the circulator.
• The circulator has properly completed the Certification of Circulator.
Also according to the document, “within 10 days after a recall petition is ‘offered for filing’ with the appropriate filing officer, the officeholder can challenge its sufficiency.”
So Rose has 10 days from the date the petition was delivered to challenge any of the signatures.
This challenge has to be made in the form of a written, sworn complaint submitted to the filing officer who received the petition. It is noted that “the burden of proof is on the challenger. The information on a recall petition is presumed to be valid unless proven otherwise.”
If there is a challenge within 10 days, there is a set schedule for rebuttals and replies so the entire process doesn’t take more than 31 days. Within five days of a challenge, the petitioner may file a written rebuttal to the challenge. Within two days of filing the rebuttal, the officeholder may file a reply to anything raised in the rebuttal. Within 14 days of the expiration of time allowed for the officeholder to file a reply to the rebuttal, a certificate of sufficiency/insufficiency shall be filed by the filing officer.
If a certificate of sufficiency is filed, a recall election is to be held on the Tuesday of the sixth week after the date that the certificate of sufficiency is issued by the clerk and filed with the governing body.