Jefferson County Clerk Jeannie Goff said recall petitions for Festus mayor and two council seats were certified by her office, but a petition for a third council seat recall fell short.
Those calling for the recall elections submitted their petitions to the County Clerk’s Office on May 18.
Goff said today, May 28, the recall election petitions on Mayor Sam Richards and council members Kevin Dennis of Ward 3 and Michael Cook of Ward 4 gained 25 percent of registered voter signatures needed, but a similar petition for Dave Boyer of Ward 1 fell short.
Those behind the recall effort have 10 days from today to meet the requirement on Boyer and resubmit that petition for certification, Goff said.
“They have 10 days, to June 7,” she said.
The group behind the petitions said they gathered thousands of signatures to meet state requirements regarding recall petition. The totals required for the council members are lower than it is for the mayor because the councilmen’s figures represent only their wards, while the figures for the mayor represent the entire city, Goff said.
She said she and her staff “accepted” the following number of signatures: 642 for Dennis, with 633 needed; 707 for Cook, with 707 needed; 2,362 for Richards, with 2,358 needed.
In Boyer’s case, the County Clerk’s office certified 460 signatures, with 496 needed.
She said signatures may not be accepted for a variety of factors.
“Not registered. Living in the wrong district. Wrong signature. Wrong address. Missing an address. Invalid date. There’s all kinds of reasons,” she said. “But, the majority are not registered and not in the district. So, that’s what happened in Festus Ward 1.”
She said she sent the results of her office’s signature certification efforts earlier in the day to the Festus city clerk, Leah Smith, and to Brian Malone of Lashley & Baer, the city’s law firm.
She said the next step in the process for recalls on Richards, Dennis and Cook is for the Festus City Council to process or “order the question.” If this happens, the Jefferson County Election Authority determines when the recall elections occur, she said.
She said a recall election requires a simple majority for a recall to be successful.
Malone previously stated that if the County Clerk’s Office deems a recall petition “sufficient” and sends it to the Festus City Council, and if the City Council then deems it sufficient, “it shall be ordered submitted to the voters at an election.”
The recall petition effort sprung about over a proposed CRG data center development project, with the mayor and the City Council as constituted prior to the April 7 election pushing forward ordinances allowing the project to progress.
Soon after the project became public, a large number of citizens began protesting the project, citing concerns over water and electricity use by a data center, as well as pollution and health concerns and other issues. They also criticized what they said was a lack of transparency by Festus officials in regard to the project.
Four council members lost their seats during the April 7 election. The recall efforts targeted council members whose seats were not up for election on the April 7 ballot. One other council member whose seat was not up for election, Staci Templeton of Ward 2, resigned from her seat April 13. Her seat remains open at this time.