2 more recall notices

March 6, 2008

By SETH AUGENSTEIN

SPARTA — every member of the township council could face the voters in 2008 — either through recall or reelection.

Councilman Manny Goldberg is the latest official to be targeted by a notice of intention to organize a recall petition. Township Clerk Miriam Tower officially approved the notice on Wednesday which was delivered the day before by a committee of five residents.

Mayor Michael Spekhardt was already targeted for recall by a notice of intention filed on Feb. 20.

A notice of intention to recall Councilman Brian Brady was also submitted to Tower's office Wednesday, but the office had not approved it by the end of the business day.

The terms of the two remaining council members will be up for grabs in the June 3 election. If the three officials targeted by the petition efforts face a recall election in the fall, then every member of the council must defend his seat in 2008.

Goldberg released a statement echoing Spekhardt's response to the notice last week. He blamed Jesse Wolosky, the petition's organizer, with deliberately masking the real issue surrounding the referendum on mandatory garbage collection next Tuesday.

"I believe that the citizens of Sparta will see through the veneer of this individual as well as his petition and decide accordingly. I am proud to stand alongside our mayor on this (garbage) referendum issue... Mr. Wolosky's effort to steal the soul of this town will disappear once this referendum passes," he said.

"I would agree with that," said Spekhardt. "It's just flat-out wrong. Once again, I think it's a shame that this hypocritical behavior continues. They're literally trying to undo a democratic process."

Several previous notices targeting Spekhardt, Goldberg and Brady had been submitted to Tower's office over the last several weeks, but all were denied because of what the clerk deemed to be paperwork errors. The latest notices listed different members of the committees to recall the officials and were determined to be legal.

The notices to recall Goldberg and Spekhardt are only the beginning of the process. Next a form of the petition must be submitted to the clerk's office for approval. After that, 3,125 signatures must be collected from registered voters — or 25 percent of the 12,497-person turnout of the last general election in November. If the notice of intention to recall Brady is also approved by Tower, then the process will be the same for his potential recall.

The recall process for the three officials has been linked by many in the town to the controversial December vote to establish a mandatory garbage collection in the township. The utility would save money for a majority of Sparta residents, but would cost a minority more annually for a mandatory service, according to officials. Spekhardt, Goldberg and Brady voted to establish the utility and did so despite some public threats that they would be recalled. The two votes against the garbage utility came from councilmen Scott Seelagy and Jerry Murphy. They have not faced a recall effort, but their terms end in June.

Tower said it was likely that a special election would happen in September or October. However, she said there could be one, two or even three separate special elections to recall the various officials, depending upon the timing and decision making process of the recall committees.

Tower estimates that each special election costs the township $16,000.

Wolosky could not be reached for comment.