Paperwork was filed Wednesday to begin the recall effort against D.C.’s mayor and council chairman, both of whose campaigns are under federal investigation.
The petitions were submitted at the Board of Elections and Ethics just days after former Ward 5 Councilman Harry Thomas Jr. pleaded guilty in federal court to stealing more than $350,000 from city taxpayers.
“Everybody who’s betrayed the public trust while in office needs to go — this is ridiculous,” said Frederick Butler, who filed the petitions. “We don’t have to take this any more. People are frustrated and enough is enough.”
| How many signatures? | ||
| To trigger a recall election of ward council members, petition signatures must total at least 10 percent of voters in that ward. For citywide officials, the threshold is 10 percent of city voters, including at least 10 percent in five of eight wards. | ||
| Ward | Registered voters | Recall threshold |
| 1 | 55,690 | 5,569 |
| 2 | 46,022 | 4,602 |
| 3 | 58,393 | 5,839 |
| 4 | 60,485 | 6,049 |
| 5 | 59,914 | 5,991 |
| 6 | 65,626 | 6,563 |
| 7 | 54,911 | 5,491 |
| 8 | 53,411 | 5,341 |
| CITY | 454,452 | 45,445 |
| Source: Board of Elections & Ethics | ||
Mayor Vincent Gray and Council Chairman Kwame Brown have 10 business days to respond to the filing. After that a petition will be crafted stating both sides’ objectives.
Butler would need 10 percent of registered voters across the city to sign the petition — or more than 45,000 signatures — to prompt a recall election for a citywide public official.
When asked Wednesday about the recall, Gray said the effort was by those who supported former Mayor Adrian Fenty and that his administration had made progress on jobs and other issues that face the city.
“If this gentleman who said that I haven’t done the job would like to debate whether the job has been done, we’ll be happy to speak to that,” Gray said, later clarifying that he would not personally debate Butler.
“Why would anybody give credibility to that?” he said.
Brown’s office did not respond to a request for comment.
Butler has been saying for months he planned to start a recall effort on a handful of city politicians come 2012. He said Wednesday he didn’t file last week because he wanted to wait for Thomas’ guilty plea and resignation.
| Examiner Archives |
|
|
Thomas was originally on Butler’s list of politicians to try and recall. Butler plans to file petitions against Ward 1 Councilman Jim Graham and Ward 3 Councilwoman Mary Cheh, and said Wednesday they both have acted in “self interest” rather than for their constituents.
The recall campaign treasurer, Debbie Smith-Steiner, said they would disclose fundraising totals on Jan. 31, the first date for filing financial information.
Examiner Staff Writer Alan Blinder contributed to this report.
