Add another local public official to the growing list of those facing recalls.

Phil Hibschman, a Bertrand Township resident, filed recall wording Thursday with the Berrien County clerk’s office against Township Clerk Jane Lano for “voting in favor of selling the Southeast Berrien County Landfill.”

Township Supervisor John Mefford and Trustees Dick Haigh and Dave Zelmer will face a recall election on the May 3 ballot. Treasurer Linda Layher, who also was targeted for recall, resigned last week.

A clarity hearing is slated for March 28 to review the language of the recall wording for Lano. If the wording is approved, recall supporters would have 180 days to collect 230 signatures to put the recall election on the ballot.

Lano said the recall wording is inaccurate, because she doesn’t sit on the landfill authority board, which will ultimately make the decision on whether to sell or keep the landfill.

“The reasoning is a mystery to me,” she said. “I’m a township board member, not a landfill board member.”

Lano questions how Hibschman got his information, since she doesn’t know him and hasn’t seen him at township board meetings.

“I’ve never stated that I want to see the landfill sold,” she said. “There are too many possibilities with the landfill that with some corrections and fixes it can be run smoothly.”

The potential sale of the landfill has been a point of argument among public officials and residents of the five municipalities that own it — the cities of Niles and Buchanan and the townships of Bertrand, Buchanan and Niles.

Last June, Lano voted against a resolution that called for the township to publicly oppose the sale of the landfill.

“I explained that I didn’t have enough information to make a determination about the issue,” Lano said. “But I’ve never stated that I want to see the landfill sold.”

Lano said she has studied the landfill extensively, which has brought up concerns about environmental issues at the site and management and governing board problems. But she says that with some “corrective measures,” it could be an efficient and profitable facility that is worth keeping.

Recall efforts have been a trend recently in the area. Two separate recall efforts were initiated against five Niles Township board members about a week ago. Township Supervisor Jim Kidwell, Treasurer Jim Ringler, Clerk Marge Durm-Hiatt and Trustees Richard Noble and Richard Cooper are being targeted.

The Berrien County Election Commission will rule on the language of the recall wordings for the second Bertrand Township recall effort and the Niles Township recalls at the same time. The Election Commission consists of Berrien County Clerk Louise Stine, Treasurer Bret Witkowski and Chief Trial Judge Alfred Butzbaugh.