BY LINDA BENTLEY | OCTOBER 8, 2014
Recall petition processing underway
Assistant Planner Marie Carcia (l) is pictured assisting Town Clerk Carrie Dyrek with processing signature petitions turned in on Wednesday, Oct. 1 by Susan Clancy and Hani Saba, chair and treasurer, respectively, of the Cave Creek Caring Citizens Committee for the recall of Vice Mayor Adam Trenk and councilmen Mike Durkin, Reg Monachino and Charles Spitzer.
Photo by Linda Bentley
CAVE CREEK – On Wednesday, Oct. 1, Susan Clancy and Hani Saba, chair and treasurer, respectively, of the Cave Creek Caring Citizens Committee (CCCC), were at town hall to turn in the signature petitions volunteers collected for the recall of Vice Mayor Adam Trenk and councilmen Mike Durkin, Reg Monachino and Charles Spitzer.
This marks the committee’s second attempt to recall the four slate councilmen after their initial efforts were thwarted by the candidates filing lawsuits that were successful in having entire petition sheets thrown out on a technicality based on the affiant’s sworn statement on the backs of the petitions.
This time around, however, volunteers made sure they followed the instructions explicitly and, for an added measure, most collected only one signature per petition, so if one petition sheet was thrown out, it would only eliminate one signature and not disenfranchise all the other citizens who may have signed the same petition sheet.
Town Clerk Carrie Dyrek provided Clancy with an initial receipt, reflecting a preliminary count of the number of petition sheets and signatures for each councilmember being recalled.
Once again, Trenk was the most unpopular council member, receiving the most signatures for recall.
The receipt for Trenk reflects 314 petition sheets were turned in containing 428 signatures.
Monachino appears to be the second most disliked councilmember with 298 petition sheets turned in containing 404 signatures.
Spitzer came in third with 298 petition sheets containing 371 signatures.
Durkin was last with 285 petition sheets containing 330 signatures.
To trigger a recall election, CCCC needed to collect at least 293 valid signatures for each councilman.
According to Clancy, they have a much lower error rate this time, as they did not collect signatures from people whose signatures were found to be invalid last time around because they were either not residents of the town of Cave Creek or weren’t registered to vote, and they verified signatures against the voter registration rolls before turning them in.
Dyrek and the town attorney have 10 days to review the petitions for compliance before forwarding them to the county recorder, where every signature will be verified, as required by law for recalls.
Depending on how long it takes the county to process the petitions, it appears the timing will allow for a recall election in March, which, before the state passed its consolidated elections law, would be when these councilmen would have ordinarily come up for reelection.
The consolidated election law requires all regular elections to be held in November of even numbered years.
Exceptions are made for referendums and recalls.
Previously, Cave Creek held its primary elections in March of the odd numbered years, with a runoff in May between candidates who did not receive more than 50 percent of the vote.
A recall election would put these four candidates back on schedule for a two year term instead of the three-and-a-half-year term the town had to implement to come into compliance with the new consolidated election law.
