Genesee County Clerk John Gleason announced that a recall election would take place this coming November 7 against Flint Mayor Karen Weaver after his office’s review of recall petition signatures determined that organizers had obtained a sufficient number to hold the vote.
Weaver had challenged the recall effort against her on July 31, contending that up to 1,200 signatures that had previously been accepted by Gleason should be considered invalid due to irregularities or alterations that were made to either the signatures or the dates on the petitions.Gleason stated that his office performed a detailed examination of the recall documents and determined that a final total of 5,870 verified signatures had been submitted. A total of 5,750 verified signatures were needed for the recall question to move forward. The recall election of Weaver will take place on November 7, and the filing deadline for candidates wishing to run against the mayor will be August 14. An unlimited number of candidates are eligible to appear on the ballot in addition to Weaver. Whoever gets the most votes will serve out the balance of Weaver’s current term.
Recall organizer Arthur Woodson’s current effort was his second attempt to recall Weaver this year and the fourth attempt made against Weaver since November 2016. All four efforts have focused on the city’s approval of a waste management contract with one company while a contract with another company was in effect. The previous three recall petitions were rejected by the county elections board due to a lack of clarity in recall language.
Weaver was first elected mayor in 2015 after defeating incumbent Dayne Walling, and is the city’s first female mayor. Flint is located about 70 miles northwest of Detroit and is home to just under 100,000 residents. The beleaguered city has been the focus of a nationally-publicized “water crisis” for nearly three years.
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