Recall petition presented

Interim City Administrator Shane Daniels and administrative assistant Diane Campbell review the citizen recall petition that was presented by (from left) Michael Martin, Shirley Anderson, Rhonda Fredericks and Rosemary Martin.

By Seth Schmidt

A resolution to call for a special election to remove Tracy City Councilman Tony Peterson from office is likely to be considered by the council Monday.
A citizen petition calling for Peterson’s removal, with 157 signatures, was presented to interim City Administrator Shane Daniels on Oct. 11. According to city charter, a recall referendum can be initiated by a petition signed by at least 20% of the number of people who voted in the last mayoral election.
Based on the 2014 city election, 130 signatures from registered Tracy voters were needed to make the petition valid.
Administrative Assistant Diane Campbell reported early Tuesday afternoon that the petition drive organizers had come up with exactly the required 130 qualifying signatures.
A review of the initial 157 signatures, found only 125 signing people who were registered voters and city residents. Petition organizers returned Tuesday morning with 14 additional signatures. Of those 14, five were validated as registered voters, bringing the petition to its minimum 130 signature requirement. Voter registration lists from Lyon County were used to determine the validity of signatures.
The council’s expected Oct. 23 resolution on the recall referendum would set a date for the vote.

For more on this article, see this week’s Headlight-Herald.