Jim Shook, chairman of the Haines Recall Committee, said petitions for the potential recall of Haines Borough Assembly members Daymond Hoffman and Joanne Waterman will be turned in by Friday, Aug. 12, the deadline to be on the ballot for the October municipal election.
Each petition needs at least 275 certified signatures.
“We want to get as many as possible, because (borough clerk) Julie Cozzi has the responsibility, of course, to evaluate each signature and make sure they’re valid,” Shook said. “If some of them are tossed out, we want to make sure we have enough extra that we’re covered.”
Cozzi issued the petitions July 21. Shook said the committee had 60 days from that date to collect signatures, but is aiming for the Aug. 12 date “to save the borough a little money and also save voter fatigue.”
He said the petitions “would allow voters to express their views on the recall issue” during the election on Tuesday, Oct. 4.
The Haines Recall Committee claims Hoffman and Waterman failed to perform prescribed duties when they voted June 13 to set a special election instead of filling a vacant assembly seat within the code-required 30 days.
When asked if the committee had more than 275 signatures for both Hoffman and Waterman, Shook answered, “I’m guessing we probably do.”
“I don’t think there’s any more than maybe two or three numbers’ difference as far as (signatures for) the two petitions,” he said.
Cozzi said the petition sponsors as of Tuesday are Shook, J.B. Axsom, Larry Geise, Linda Geise, Bill Kurz, Bill McRoberts, Ronald Miner, Maria Paquet, Terry Pardee, Don Turner Jr., Jack Wenner, and Richard and Barbara Woods.
The committee has collected signatures at local businesses and the Southeast Alaska State Fair. Shook said group members would be out working on Thursday and Friday before the deadline.
“If anybody wishes to sign the petition, we’ll drive to their residence and take the petition to them,” he said.