The deadline for new candidates in the Cortez recall election passed Wednesday with only one potential replacement candidate, Justin Dodson, successfully filing paperwork to run against Mayor Dan Porter.
Regardless, recall supporters assert that existing council members should be ousted.
Recall Committee spokesperson Jodie Henley said she wants a council that is responsible to the people and does not make decisions based solely on the advice of city staff.
They do not investigate any issues such as the Flaugh-Clark (subdivision), prior to voting, she said. They vote on issues without knowing the true cost. Theyre spending our money.
Henley announced Wednesday she is not going to run as a replacement candidate.
The May 3 recall election targets Cortez Mayor Dan Porter and city Councilors Donna Foster, Matt Keefauver, Robert Rime and Betty Swank. Councilors Butler and Bob Archibeque are not on the ballot.
The Cortez recall effort is not alone. Nonprofit website Ballotpedia reported 77 city council recall efforts nationwide in 2010 a spike from 39 in 2009 and two in 2007. No data was available for 2008.
Henley said it is the citizens constitutional right to conduct a recall of elected officials if they perceive unethical or illegal behavior.
The Recall Committee argues the current council abuses taxpayer money, overuses emergency ordinances and is unresponsive to residents concerns points contested by the embattled officials.
Opponents of the recall effort argue Cortez voters already made their decision in last years election.
Henley said she also voted for some of the existing council members in the April 2010 election.
The reasons for the recall have all come to light since the council members were elected, Henley said. If they had been known prior to the last election, I feel certain that they would not have been voted in.
Although the council narrowly approved the contract for the controversial Flaugh-Clark subdivision in 2008, Henley said she did not learn about the issue until after the 2010 election. Councilors Foster and Keefauver voted against the 2008 contract.
At an August 2010 city council meeting, 10 residents spoke out against the project before the final plat was approved with Councilor Tom Butler voting against.
To date, more than $325,000 in city funds have been allotted for the construction of street and infrastructure in the four-lot Flaugh-Clark subdivision in Northeast Cortez. Subdivision infrastructure is typically funded by the private developer.
While recall proponents rallied around the expense as an abuse of taxpayer money, city officials argue amenities were made to the owners of the Flaugh-Clark subdivision in an effort to secure the extension of Tucker Lane, which they say will eventually be an important city thoroughfare in the future.
Dick Biery, a recall proponent and neighbor of the subdivision, said he is watching the construction of the soon-to-be paved Tucker Lane extension, which currently dead ends, while nearby Balsam Street remains unpaved.
In the winter it turns to mud and we watch the school bus sloshing through, he said. And then weve got this brand new street back here thats paved, when the money should have gone to Kansas (Street) or Balsam. Its a little tough to accept.
An exact price tag on the Flaugh-Clark project remains elusive as unforeseen expenses arise, some stemming from a conflict with the Cortez Sanitation District over sewer lines. City Manager Jay Harrington said there is no system to track how many hours city staff labored on the project.
Biery alleges city officials are hiding the true cost, which is estimated at $325,000.
The hundreds of hours city personnel put into that theyre not counting that, Biery said. It could be up to $400,000. Nobody knows.
Biery worries the public expenditure on a private subdivision could set an unfavorable precedent for future developments.
Henley alleges city staff violated election law by using state laws, instead of city charter, to set the standard for potential replacement candidates requiring that they be registered voters who have resided in Cortez for more than a year. City Clerk Linda Smith, the election official for the upcoming recall, said when city charter does not specify an issue, she defaults to state law.
Recall opponents and city officials allege the recall effort is driven by a group of area developers who sued the city. Henley believes the argument is an effort to detract voters from the issues.
I cant believe that at this late date, that they still dont understand that it was the citizens of Cortez that started this, she said, adding a group of Cortez residents, including neighbors of the controversial Flaugh-Clark subdivision, started the recall. The developers support it, yes, but so do other people. This harping on developers is just crazy.
Mayor Dan Porter previously alleged the group of developers was attempting to seat a city council more favorable to their lawsuit a point Henley said is total ignorance.
The federal judge was not going to come down here and ask the council members what they thought, she said. The council had absolutely nothing to do with the lawsuit.
Plaintiff developers went door-to-door collecting signatures on petitions to initate the recall as well as contributing a building and website to the effort.
Henley and Biery emphasize that the recall effort is not a personal attack on the incumbent councilors, but an effort to seat a council that personally investigates issues before voting.
The citizens of Cortez would like a city council that responds to the people, is accountable to the people, that does their due diligence, and acts in an honest and ethical way, Henley said.
If no one runs as a replacement to fill the seat of a recalled councilor, the office will be deemed vacant and filled by an individual appointed by the city council. Porter and Keefauver, both re-elected for second terms, are serving four-year terms that end in 2014. Foster, also re-elected, is serving a two-year term and would be term limited out next year. Swank and Rime would be up for re-election next year.
Absentee and early voting will take place from April 25 to 28.
Polls will be open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. May 3 at the Montezuma County Annex Building, 103 N. Chestnut St., for voters who lie north of Main Street, as well as Montezuma Valley Presbyterian Church, 350 S. Washington St., for voters who live south of Main Street.
Voters who signed up for a mail-in ballot will receive one in the mail.
More information on the election can be obtained from the city clerks office at 564-4008.
On the Net: Recall proponents website, www.cityofcortezrecall.com/index.html; Support our Council, a group opposed to the recall, Facebook page, www.facebook.com/norecallcortez?sk=wall.
Reach Reid Wright at reidw@cortezjournal.com.