Citizens in Charge

Akron, Ohio mayor Don Plusquellic, who has been in office for over two decades, survived a recall election last month by a wide margin. Recall supporters had accused the mayor of playing fast and loose with the taxpayers’ money, ethics violations, and questionable campaign financing amongst other things.

While the voters in the low-turnout election pulled the lever 3-to-1 in favor of keeping the mayor in office, it sure seems to have scared city politicians. The city council will decide on Monday whether to amend the charter to increase the number of signatures needed to trigger a recall by eight times. Currently a recall can be called by collecting signatures of 20% of those who voted in the last election; currently about 3,100 signatures. Under the proposed plan, which would have to be approved by voters in November, supporters of a recall would need 20% of all registered voters; almost 24,000 signatures.

The Mayor and 10 out of the city’s 13 council members who support the change argue that the signature threshold is too low. The leader of the recall effort had a different take on it, calling the proposed change “an incumbent protection plan that would make it impossible to hold another recall. They might as well do away with the recall provision with this number of signatures. He [the mayor] wants to be even more insulated from criticism.”