The Niles area has caught recall fever, and that has raised questions among local elected officials about whether Michigan’s recall law makes it too easy to put them on the hot seat.

Bertrand Township will hold a recall election Tuesday for President John Mefford and trustees Dick Haigh and David Zelmer. A recall effort targeting Bertrand Clerk Jane Lano passed a clarity hearing and organizers are collecting signatures to get the recall put on the ballot.

In Niles Township, a group of residents known as the Citizens for Good Leadership is collecting signatures to put a recall of Supervisor Jim Kidwell to a vote. Meanwhile, another group of Niles Township residents trying to oust Clerk Marge Durm-Hiatt, Treasurer Jim Ringler and Trustees Richard Cooper and Richard Noble have attempted three times to get recall language approved.

The reasonings have been denied all three times, but this week they filed recall wording a fourth time.

The recall frenzy is nothing new. In the past 20 years, more than 340 recall wordings have been filed in Berrien County, or about 17 a year. But only 26 of them led to a candidate being removed from office.

The current Michigan recall law only requires the reasoning to be of “sufficient clarity” for organizers to begin circulating a recall petition.

The commission doesn’t rule on the truthfulness of the reasoning nor are there any specific grounds for recall, which has caused some local officials to question the law.

While most officials agree the law is a good tool for accountability, some believe the recall statute is too lax.

“My thought about the whole issue is it’s way too easy for a recall to be started to begin with. It’s just a matter of putting some words down,” said Kidwell, who is being targeted for recall for revealing information from a closed session in a press release.

“(The reasoning) doesn’t even have to be truthful. It just has to be clear to the public,” he said. “It should have to have truth to it.”

Haigh and Mefford, who are facing recall for voting to have the county collect summer taxes rather than having the township treasurer do it, believe they have been targeted by people with another agenda.

Both officials have told the Star they believe recall organizers are trying to oust them for their opposition to selling the Southeast Berrien County Landfill, a highly debated issue by the five municipalities that own it.

Mefford told the Star in January the recall organizers just have a “vendetta” against him.

Kidwell also calls into question the group of people making the decision of whether a recall reason is “clear.”

The County Election Commission, which consists of County Clerk Louise Stine, Treasurer Bret Witkowski and Chief Trial Judge Alfred Butzbaugh, is responsible for making the decision at a clarity hearing.

“The recall committee personnel (the election commission) should be revamped. Maybe it should be all judges, a third party, people who are unfamiliar with the public officials,” Kidwell said.

Lano said while the recall law is at times “absolutely justifiable,” there are far more times when people are abusing the law.

Durm-Hiatt agrees and thinks the recall law is something that should be looked at by the state legislature.

Sen. John Proos, R-St. Joseph, said the issue has been discussed frequently at the state level.

“Every term there are a series of bills to review and potentially amend the recall statute in Michigan,” he said. “I have not sponsored any bills at this point.”

But Proos does admit the recall statute should be “structurally more reasonable given the significant cost that local municipalities and the county clerk incurs.”

Durm-Hiatt said it would cost the township about $4,000 in election costs for a recall election. Then if any of the officers are ousted, it would cost an additional $4,000 in taxpayer money to hold an election to replace them. Bertrand Township, only having one precinct, will pay less than $1,000 in election costs for a recall vote.

Proos also said the requirements to start a recall petition are “a pretty easy standard to achieve.”

Michigan is one of 19 states with no threshold for the recall of local officials. Some states have specific requirements, like misconduct in office, before a petition can be circulated.

“A proper review of the law is certainly within our legislative responsibility,” Proos said.

But creating certain requirements for starting a recall petition would be a challenging task without limiting citizens’ ability to remove the officials they selected to serve.

Lano believes she has a solution without touching the law.

“The first step in the right direction would be to implement term limits,” she said. “From my experience here, when you have officials in office for an eternity, those people can become comfortable, arrogant and indifferent to the wishes of the people.”

Lano believes bringing in fresh blood every few years would eliminate a lot of complaints and recall attempts. She also suggests implementing “accountability standards” for elected officials.

Durm-Hiatt says recalls are a major distraction for local officials.

“We need to be working on other things rather than focusing on this,” she said. “It’s kind of sad.”

Kidwell agrees and says he has been out of the office more the past month than at any other time during his term, talking to constituents about the recall.

“If it was up to me, there would be no recalls on anybody down here,” he said. “We only have another seven or eight months and we have to file again to run for office. Why can’t they wait until 2012?”

———————————————————————————————–

 

The recall process

 

Michigan is one of 18 states that allow the recall of state officials and 29 states that allow recall elections for local governments.

 

Who can be recalled? — Any elected officers, except judges, who have served at least six months in office and are not within six months of the end of their term

 

Reasoning — The reasoning must be based on the officer’s conduct during the current term. Reasoning must be “a political rather than judicial question.”

 

Clarity hearing — The reasoning for a recall must be filed with the county clerk. The county election commission will then rule on whether a recall petition can be circulated based on whether the reasoning is “of sufficient clarity.” The election commission doesn’t rule on whether the wording is truthful. Michigan is one of 19 states with no threshold for recall.

 

Petition — In order for the recall question to be placed on a ballot, recall organizers must collect signatures equal in number to 25 percent of the number of voters in the last election for governor. The signatures must be submitted within 90 days of getting the first signature.

 

Election — If enough valid signatures are collected, a recall election is scheduled on the next of the four election dates the state has each year.

 

SOURCES: State of Michigan Bureau of Elections; National Conference of State Legislatures

 

 

The road to recall

 

The past five months have seen several recall attempts targeting local officials. Here’s how they have developed.

 

December 2010 — Bertrand Township resident Therese Niemier submits recall wording to Berrien County, targeting Supervisor John Mefford, Treasurer Linda Layher and Trustees Richard Haigh and David Zelmer. Her reasoning is that they voted to have the county collect summer taxes, rather than having the treasurer do it and saving the township a 1 percent administration fee.

 

Jan. 24 — Niemier collects the necessary signatures to get the recall issue on the ballot. An election is slated for May 3.

 

Feb. 28 — Niles Township Supervisor Jim Kidwell distributes a news release to reporters with information about an investigation of Treasurer Jim Ringler for allegedly violating township policy.

 

March 7 — A third party investigation reveals Ringler did not violate township policy. Township resident Herschel Hoese threatens to begin a recall effort against Kidwell for distributing the news release.

 

March 10 — Layher resigns from her treasurer post without prior warning.

 

March 15 — Two separate recall wordings, targeting Niles Township officials, are filed with the county clerk’s office. Kidwell is targeted for releasing information discussed in closed session to the public in the news release, while Ringler, Clerk Marge Durm-Hiatt and Trustees Richard Cooper and Richard Noble are targeted for “misuse of township funds.”

 

March 17 — Bertrand Township resident Phil Hibschman files recall wording against Bertrand Clerk Jane Lano for “voting in favor of selling the Southeast Berrien County Landfill.” Lano doesn’t serve on the landfill authority board.

 

March 28 — The recall wording against Kidwell passes a clarity hearing, and organizers begin collecting signatures of residents in order to get the issue on the ballot. Recall wording was denied for Durm-Hiatt, Ringler, Cooper, Noble and Lano.

 

April 7 — Berrien County Sheriff’s Department begins investigation to determine if Mefford and Haigh violated open meetings act by holding an alleged “secret meeting” to interview candidates for the open treasurer position.

 

April 12 — A second attempt at passing recall language against Ringler, Durm-Hiatt, Cooper and Noble fails at a clarity hearing. Recall language against Lano is approved.

 

April 25 —A third attempt at passing recall language against Ringler, Durm-Hiatt, Cooper and Noble fails at a clarity hearing. Recall wording is filed for a fourth time with the county.

 

May 3 — Bertrand Township residents will vote on whether to recall Mefford, Haigh and Zelmer.