      Recall petitions are now circulating against Crawford Mayor Tom Phillips.
Chief circulator Lori Palomares has until February 2nd to gather 75 signatures to force Phillips to resign or face a recall election.
Palomares filed the petition with Dawes County Clerk Cheryl Feist on Dec 4 and picked up the completed forms from Feist yesterday.
Mayor Phillips turned down the chance to have a defense statement included with the petition, leaving only Palomares’ complaint that Phillips does not reside in Crawford.
The complaint also says the mayor has a potential conflict of interest because his wife does the books for the city-owned Legend Buttes Golf Course.
75 valid signatures from registered Crawford voters are needed to force a recall because that’s 35% of Phillip’s vote total in the 2022 general election.
When Palomares turns in her petitions, Feist will have 15 days to verify they contain the required signatures. If they do, she will notify Phillips – who would then have to decide between resigning or standing for a recall election.
If he doesn’t resign, the Crawford City Council must act within 21 days to schedule a recall election for the first available date at least 50 days in the future that complies with state rules for election dates.
The city will be responsible for setting the ballot language and paying for all election costs.
If there is a recall election, it would be the second in 3 years against the mayor of Crawford. Connie Shell defeated a recall attempt in January 2021 with 57% of the vote.