Recall petitions rejected
Officials say they only have two days to count signatures
Duanne Small’s recall petitions were rejected today after having been handed in yesterday at 4:50 p.m.
The petitions, which called for the removal of Mayor Ed Johnson, Deputy Mayor John G. Loffredo and Councilwoman Sue Henderson from office, contained about 2,644 signatures each. Small, a community activist, spearheaded the effort to collect signatures.
The reason given for the rejection was a lack of time to verify the signatures before the Nov. 6 election.
Small and his recall committee intend to bring the matter to court, he said in a phone interview today.
“We feel that we filed them on time,” Small said. “The letter is saying we only allowed them two business days to count all the signatures. Well, then y’all got two business days to count them. That’s not our responsibility. That’s your responsibility.”
Also, Small’s committee was never notified of a deadline to hand in the signatures, he said. Yesterday, officials told the Sun the deadline, which is governed by state statute, was unclear. City clerk Steve Kay declined to comment on the matter today.
The city needs to notify the Monmouth County Clerk’s office by Sept. 13 of all matters it wishes to include on the Nov. 6 ballot. This deadline is established by the county clerk.
Kay’s office under the statute must allow 10 days after verification “for any interested party to appeal [his] decision to the Superior Court,” according to the letter. And the city must allow an additional five business days for the subjects of the recall to resign, according to the letter.
That 15-day window is a “mandatory” period “which may not be relaxed or shortened by me,” Kay’s letter reads.
Counting back 15 days from the county’s Sept. 13 deadline, Kay would need to have the signatures verified by Aug. 22 — two days after his office received them.
“The submission of your petitions at 4:50 p.m. on Aug. 20, 2012, provides my office with barely two business days to review and verify … a total of approximately 7,932 signatures,” the letter reads.
The letter goes on to say it is impossible for Kay’s office to individually verify the signatures in two days or less.
