By Patricia Bogumil
Interim Editor
The number of signatures needed to begin a recall of Commissioner Bill Gerard from the Town of Waterford Sanitary District (WSD) board is 531, according to the state Government Accountability Board.
Town Clerk Tina Mayer received confirmation of that number Monday.
The 531 signatures represent 25 percent (rounded up) of the 2,122 WSD voters who cast a ballot in the last gubernatorial election, which was held November 2010.
On April 30, former WSD Commissioner Dan Dickinson filed notice of his intention to recall Gerard, the WSD board chairman.
Three years remain in Gerard’s six-year term of office.
Dickinson has 60 days to gather the 531 signatures needed.
Dickinson said Monday that about 40 percent, or more than 200, of the required 531 signatures had been gathered in the first week.
He estimated that 97 per cent of the people he contacted signed, with many also expressing frustration over how WSD is being managed.
Gerard said Tuesday that he believed Dickinson and other petition circulators are scaring people into signing the petition by presenting them with false information.
“I would hope that most people would seek the truth before signing,” Gerard said.
“I am looking forward to reviewing each and every signature, as I have been told many are being sought while on the clock for the Town of Waterford,” he added.
Gerard said he believes everyone who signs the recall petition should share the estimated $1,100 to $1,500 cost if the issue goes to recall, “rather than split the cost amongst us all.”
On the paperwork filed April 30 at the Town Hall, Dickinson briefly lists these reasons for Gerard’s recall: “Multiple attempts to make grinder pump users pay for WSD system infrastructure, and miscellaneous WSD financial reasons.”
In comments shared in last week’s Waterford Post, Gerard dismisses both of those reasons as being unwarranted.
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