Man Requests Recall Form

A recall process has begun on Kimball’s Mayor John Morrison with the filing of the Recall Petition Filing Form. The form was filed Oct. 22 by Ronald C. Buchart.

Recall is a lengthy process in the state of Nebraska; the process could take up to 80 days with deadlines and certifications.

In this case, for a recall election to occur, 280 valid signatures must be gathered, which is 35% of those that voted in the last general election.

An attachment to the recall form included these reasons for the recall form:

• Raised community property tax levy despite the public outcry not to.

• Over the allotted time to fill a vacant seat in City Council.

• Disrespect toward community members that keep him accountable, distributing misleading information about the said parties.

• Not representing the needs of the people of Kimball

Morrison responds to the recall issue in his Opinion Page column on Page 2A.

The next step in the recall process is that the elected official – the mayor in this case – has 20 days from official notification to submit a defense statement. As required by law, County Clerk Cathy Sibal notified Mayor Morrison on Oct. 23. Sibal has 5 business days to prepare recall petition pages.

The circulator – Buchart in this case – then has 20 days to collect petition pages from election office, and 30 days to gather petition signature and submit completed pages.

The process continues as the verification of the signatures is required within 15 business days by an election official.

According to the recall process, if enough signatures are gathered the elected official and governing body are officially notified, and with 21 days of being notified, an election to must occur on the first available date. It must be at least eight Fridays from the date on which they notified the clerk.