Small Town News

Recall comments provoke further commentary at council meeting last week

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Although attendees at the November 5 Superior Town Council meeting were few, verbal repercussions regarding recall applications aimed at the mayor and three council members continued apace.

The Superior Recall Committee 2009 filed four "application for recall petition" documents with the town clerk on October 28. The documents show the signature of resident Richard Green as applicant. He is listed as one of two recall committee officers. The second name on the applications is that of resident Molly Willison.

The applications show the intent to circulate and file a petition demanding the recall of Mayor Michael 0. Hing, "Council Member" Olga Lopez, who is actually the vice mayor, Council Member Lynn C. Heglie and Council Member Soyla Peralta:

Grounds for the recall demand per the application are: "Malfeasance in management of the Town's finances, mismanagement of public funds, open meeting law violations, noncompliance with Alternate Expenditure Limitation and State Election Laws, and noncompliance with personnel policy and procedures in hiring, disciplining and terminating public employees."

Statements by Hing, Lopez and Heglie appeared in a story that ran in The Superior Sun last week in response to the newspaper's asking them if they cared to respond to the filing of the applications. Council Member Soyla Peralta could not be reached for comment.

The comments quoted in the newspaper story generated even more comments at the November 5 meeting.

During the call to the public, resident John Weber responded to the mayor's quoted response. He touched on a number of issues regarding town finances and other items recently discussed in council and in the mayor's statements. These included level of involvement and responsibility the council has in the oversight of town employees, audits for the fiscal years 2007-2008 and 2008-2009, "the improper election procedure allowing late-filing of candidates" and a "last-minute reversal" of that decision that made it impossible to file further protest.

He also said he was upset about the town's failure to put the Home Rule (Alternate Expenditure Limitation) on the ballot when it should have been held.

Richard Green also had a response to the mayor's response and delivered it during the call to the public.

To begin with, Green addressed comments by the mayor on the filing of the recall by Green. He said many of those statements were "off base." He said he did not like the idea of recalls but sometimes things are so bad in government that recall is the only option to make things right.

He also discussed comments made about the responsibility the town council has for the town manager's decisions. He said that "we, the public" cannot hold the manager responsible for actions taken but must hold the council responsible.

He disputed the mayor's point on no claim having being filed regarding the election he disputes. He alleged that the town clerk had ruled that seven candidates were not eligible to run in that March primary. He contended that when it was too late to appeal this in the courts, these names were added back to the ballots. He said that he was told by a council member that Hing had made the decision to put those names back on the ballot.

He also disputed the mayor's claim in his response that he, Green, had in the past filed a claim for an open meeting law violation. He said he had not done so. But he said he applauded the person who did that for caring about the government and laws.

He took exception to the mayor's statement in his response that"... Mr. Green's claims that we misuse public funds are absolutely incorrect.

Green said he had not claimed any misuse of public funds by council or staff.

Like Weber, he addressed the issue of audits. He said that the mayor had stated in his response that the town had yearly audits. He said he would like to see the audit for 2008 and the one due the week previous to the meeting for 2009. "Has it even been started?" he asked.

He said that in 2007 there were findings of serious deficiencies in the audit. He commented to the mayor that the town had yet to tell the townspeople the extent of the Home Rule problem. On the mayor's statement that the Home Rule situation had resulted from an oversight, he said an oversight of this magnitude by the town council is "malfeasance."

He said that he was just the messenger for the people and that the mayor had decided to "kill the messenger" in the newspaper.

He said the mayor had not been listening or communicating with the town and that he belittles those with differing opinion.

He said the recall committee is just the first step in the process, a "shot over the bow, let's say; so we have your attention." He then asked for the mayor's resignation.

Council members and the mayor are not allowed to respond to statements made during public comment sections of town council meetings.

Mayor Michael Hing's only comment about the recall was made during the "council comment" period at the end of the meeting. He referred to his response to the recall that had been quoted in the newspaper and said some of what he had included had been left out. He read these state-ments for the record and said that printed versions were available to anyone who wished to read them. (Editor's note: All parties involved in or interested in the recall petition application process are welcome to submit letters to the editor stating their specific points and opinions. All editorial content, including letters to the editor and other items are subject to space availability and run at the sole discretion of the editors of The Superior Sun.)



Copyright 2009 The Superior Sun, Superior, Arizona. All Rights Reserved. This content, including derivations, may not be stored or distributed in any manner, disseminated, published, broadcast, rewritten or reproduced without express, written consent from SmallTownPapers, Inc.

© 2010 The Superior Sun Superior, Nebraska. All Rights Reserved. This content, including derivations, may not be stored or distributed in any manner, disseminated, published, broadcast, rewritten or reproduced without express, written consent from DAS.

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