A recall drive against Crawford Mayor Tom Phillips has been verified as having gathered enough signatures to force Phillips to choose between resigning or facing a recall election.
Dawes County Clerk Cheryl Feist says she has notified Phillips and the city by registered mail that chief circulator Lori Palomares had met the threshold number of verified signatures from registered voters in Crawford for a recall election.
Palomares needed 137 valid signatures – 35% of all votes cast in the mayor’s race two years ago when Phillips won. She turned in 162 signatures and Feist’s staff verified 152 as accepted.
If Phillips doesn’t resign, the Crawford City Council has 21 days from the receipt of Feist’s letter to set an election for the first available date that complies with state rules for election dates at least 50 days in the future. The Primary election is in 47 days..
Palomares says Phillips should be recalled because he doesn’t live in Crawford and because he has a conflict of interest with his wife doing the books for the city-owned Legend Buttes Golf Course.