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GI mayor recall petition will circulate soon
In just a few weeks Grand Island residents will have to make a choice: whether or not to sign a recall petition against Mayor Jay Vavricek.
Controversy over a number of issues like the hiring of a fire chief to the status of the city's administrator led to the petition from a Grand Island resident. Jeb Wolslaben being collecting signatures on September 17th. The mayor has until Monday to turn in his rebuttal statement. If he does, then the petition page would list the filer's statement and the mayor's rebuttal. But, Grand Island citizens are not waiting to voice their opinions. "I'm an elected official so I have a different perspective than the average citizen, but I think recalls are drastic measures and I don't think this rises to that level," said Hall County Supervisor Scott Arnold. With the clock ticking, not everyone is on the same page for the recall. "I just think there are too many things that are fishy that are going on. It's just hard to trust somebody that's running your city like that," said Pam Scarrow. In just a few weeks Grand Island residents can voice their displeasure or in this case sign a petition. "The 17th of September will be the day that we'll probably issue the petition pages to the petition circulator then that person has 30 days to fulfill his obligation to gather the signatures required," Hall County Election Commissioner Dale Baker said. And that date is past the Nebraska State Fair. "The state fair is probably not the best place to go because you're looking at a very small population base that's really eligible to sign," Baker said. Each of the over 3,000 signatures has to be verified by the commissioner's office. It is a time consuming process which is why the issue will not make the November ballot. "It will not. It can't because of the deadlines, all those types of things. It will not, definitely not make it to the general election ballot, it's forced into special," said Baker. Regardless of the timing, Hall County supervisor Scott Arnold says it's not necessary. "Recalls are for big, big issues of malfeasance of doing your job, either illegally or so badly that everybody can agree that it's not right. This isn't the case," Arnold said. But one Grand Island resident says getting the signatures won't be a problem. "I think it's a necessity for the better of the city," said Scarrow. Once the signatures are verified by the commissioner's office, the issue goes to Grand Island City Council. They have between 35 to 75 days to set an election. |
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