By Tracy Ouellette
Staff Writer
Dan Dickenson, a former Town of Waterford Sanitary District (WSD) commissioner, submitted more than 700 petition signatures June 15 in an effort to recall District president Bill Gerard from the WSD Board.
Waterford Town Clerk Tina Mayer now officially has 31 days to certify the signatures.
“Both the deputy clerk and I are looking at it; we’ll get it done in time,” said Mayer.
Tuesday afternoon, Mayer described the process as being “almost done.” As of press time Wednesday, more than 650 valid signatures had been identified by the Town Clerk’s office.
Mayer said her goal is to ask for a special Town Board meeting to be held Tuesday, July 3, so the Town Board can certify the election as soon as possible.
“We’re not sitting on this,” said Mayer.
Mayer said Bill Gerard has 10 days after the recall petition is offered for filing to challenge the sufficiency of the petition. Copies of the petitions were made available to Gerard on June 15.
Dickinson needs 531 valid, certified signatures for the recall to begin, according to the state Government Accountability Board.
If and when there are sufficient valid signatures, the Town Board will then meet to certify a recall election and establish a timeframe for nomination papers to be circulated and submitted by Dickinson – or any other candidate.
Twenty-five signatures are required to be nominated.
Town Chairman Bob Langmesser said he expects that the Town Board will be certifying a recall election, which would be placed on the August 2012 primary ballot to avoid the additional expense of scheduling a separate election.
Dickinson’s recall effort follows months of public angst over WSD financial issues, including an aborted attempt to charge about 300 users a separate fee for the WSD-owned grinder pumps that service their properties.
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