August 6, 2009
By CHRISTINA TATU
FRANKFORD -- Mayor Paul Sutphen did not challenge a petition to recall him from office and said he does not intend to resign.
Wednesday was the deadline for Sutphen to file an objection to the recall in state Superior Court and he is allowed an additional five days to decide whether he will resign before the process begins for the special election to be held Dec. 8.
"I think this is a waste of taxpayers' money and I am hoping that the people, the three-quarters who did not sign the petition, will come out
and vote for not recalling me,"
Sutphen said.
According to county election officials, a special election in Frankford would cost at least $15,500.
Recall organizers believe Sutphen should resign and save taxpayers the cost of the special election.
"The township does have the final say in a special election, but Mr. Sutphen could save the taxpayers the money realizing that more people have signed the petition than have voted for him by almost a 2 to 1 margin," said recall spokesman George Lista in a statement Wednesday. "Inasmuch as it is about Paul and his personal agenda, it is also about fairness and change the township is looking for."
On July 23, Sutphen challenged more than 500 signatures on the petition, and recall organizers challenged Frankford Township Administrator Louanne Cular's decision to invalidate 164 of the signatures.
Cular declared 1,055 of the signatures valid, sufficient to hold a special election. At least 1,030 signatures are needed -- 25 percent of Frankford voters registered during the last general election.
Sutphen had 10 business days from July 23 to decide whether he would challenge Cular's decision to uphold the petition.
"These people are already burdening the township with a $15,500 election," Sutphen said. If he challenged Cular's decision to uphold the petition, the township would incur additional fees since the township attorney would need to represent Cular in court, Sutphen said.
He said the township already has incurred additional costs related to the recall, including paying township attorney Kevin Benbrook for additional counsel and paying Cular for overtime spent tallying signatures.
Cular, who is retiring after 30 years as township administrator, is the only township employee certified as an election official, and therefore the only one eligible to act as the official liaison between the township and recall
organizers.
Cular announced her retirement in June and was taking accumulated vacation time when she was required to return to the office and count signatures. Cular estimated spending about 80 hours overtime, counting and verifying signatures, and re-verifying those same signatures when Sutphen and recall organizers objected.
At $47 per hour, Cular's salary, 80 hours of overtime would total $5,640 at time-and-a-half rate of $70.50.
Cular said she occasionally had two deputies in the office help her with recall duties, but she handled the majority of the work.
"It was a tremendous amount of time, both with the petition and the objections, because it's almost double the amount of time when objections come in and you have to go back and do everything all over again," Cular said.
Cular said she plans to certify the date for the special election today -- technically in time to get the recall question on the general election ballot.
However, according to county Board of Elections Administrator Marge McCabe, state law requires that if a group requests a special election for the recall, then a special election must be held, even if the recall petition is verified in time to make it on November's ballot.
Before a petition can be circulated, it must state on the petition whether the group plans to have a special election.
Lista said the group requested a special election this time around, after the petition to recall Deputy Mayor Robert McDowell was challenged in state Superior Court last year, and not verified in time for November's election. Recall activists anticipated the possibility that Sutphen may also challenge a recall. If the group did not request a special election, and the petition was not verified by deadline for November's ballot, the petition would be considered invalid, Lista said.
