A second attempt to recall four Niles Township board members came to a halt after recall language was denied at a clarity hearing at the Berrien County Courthouse Tuesday.

The first attempt to oust Clerk Marge Durm-Hiatt, Treasurer Jim Ringler and Trustees Richard Cooper and Richard Noble also stalled out at a previous clarity hearing March 28.

The language for the most recent recall attempts was: “For voting no to saving $7,1000 on Niles Charter Township audit.”

The language references a township board meeting in February when Supervisor Jim Kidwell made a motion to have the state do the township’s yearly audit. Kidwell argued the township could save more than $7,000 by switching from Siegfried Crandall, a company out of Kalamazoo that has done the township’s audit for the past nine years.

Ringler argued it was too late at that point to send out request for proposals (RFPs) for a new auditor, and the board denied the motion 5-2.

Berrien County Clerk Louise Stine said the Berrien County Election Commission denied the recall wording, because “it just wasn’t clear.”

Stine also said the residents behind the recall effort have re-filed recall wording, and a third clarity hearing is slated for April 25 at 8:30 a.m.

The language for the new recall effort is more detailed about the vote on the audit and also references the officials’ votes of no in 2009 to rescinding a motion to have Sheffer Design construct a township website that cost the township $7,000.

The recall wordings for Ringler, Cooper and Noble also reference their votes of yes for a November 2010 resolution to hire Mary Lasata Spiegel, who is the niece of Durm-Hiatt. Durm-Hiatt didn’t vote on the issue because it was a conflict of interest.

A recall effort targeting Kidwell passed a clarity hearing in March, and a group of residents known as Citizens for Good Leadership have begun a campaign to collect signatures to get the recall issue on the ballot. The group has purchased advertising in the Niles Daily Star, encouraging township residents to sign the petition.

The group needs to gather 907 signatures for the issue to be put on the ballot.

The recall targeting Kidwell stems from him issuing a press release to reporters last month notifying them of an investigation of Ringler. The recall language argues that it is a violation of township policies to release information about a confidential investigation of an employee.

The ad taken out in the Star doesn’t mention this situation, though. It references Kidwell’s support for a township police department and his request for the board to hire his daughter as deputy supervisor at $18,500. The ad also accuses Kidwell of supporting the recall effort of Ringler, Durm-Hiatt, Cooper and Noble.

Total recall

The clarity hearing for the language of the recall targeting Bertrand Township Clerk Jane Lano was approved Tuesday.

It was the second attempt at passing a clarity hearing.

The recall election for three other Bertrand board members — Supervisor John Mefford and trustees Dick Haigh and David Zelmer — is slated for May 3. Former Treasurer Linda Layher was also targeted for recall but resigned last month.

The wording was filed by Bertrand Township resident Phil Hibschman. The reasoning was for Lano voting no to adopt a resolution to oppose the sale of the Southeast Berrien County Landfill.

Lano said the wording references a vote in June of last year when the landfill authority board was considering selling the landfill.

“At the time I didn’t have enough information to make a decision one way or the other, which is why I voted no,” Lano said in a phone interview Tuesday.