Any elected official may be recalled and removed from office by the qualified voters of the Town as herein provided. Recall is intended to be used when, in the opinion of the number of voters hereinafter specified, an elected official, acting as such, has caused a loss of confidence in that official's judgment or ability to perform the duties and responsibilities of the office.
[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Council of the Town of Windham 1-23-2024 by Order No. 24-007.[1] Amendments noted where applicable.]
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Editor's Note: This order was enacted to correct items that do not meet the Town Charter. The Recall of Elected Officials Ordinance was enacted as the result of a People's Petition and was approved by voters by referendum vote on 11-7-2023, effective 11-17-2023.
Any 25 qualified voters of the Town may file with the Town Clerk an affidavit containing the name of the official sought to be recalled and a statement of specific facts to support the grounds of recall. The Town Clerk shall forthwith transmit a copy of such affidavit to the official sought to be recalled and to the Town Council. Within five days from the date of the filing of the affidavit, the Town Clerk shall deliver to the 25 voters making such affidavit a sufficient number of copies of petition blanks demanding such recall. The blanks shall be issued, consecutively numbered and signed by the Town Clerk, who shall set the official seal thereto; they shall be dated and addressed to the Town Council, and shall contain the name of the official sought to be recalled, the grounds of recall as stated in said affidavit, and the names of the persons to whom issued. The recall petition shall be returned and filed with the Town Clerk within 30 days after issuance of the petition. Said petition, before being returned and filed, shall be signed by registered voters of the Town equal to at least 10% of the number of votes cast in the Town for Governor in the last gubernatorial election, but in no case less than 100 voters, and to every signature shall be added the place of residence of the signer. The Town Clerk shall deliver the petition to the Registrar of Voters, and the Registrar of Voters shall within five days certify thereon the number of signatures which are names of qualified voters of the Town.
If the petition shall be certified to be sufficient by the Town Clerk and the registrar of voters, the Town Clerk shall allow five days for the filing of legal challenges to the signatures on the petition. If no such challenges are filed, the Town Clerk shall forthwith certify and submit the petition to the Town Council. The Town Council shall forthwith give written notice to said official of the receipt of said certificate and, if the official sought to be removed does not resign within five days, shall order an election to be held on a day fixed by them not less than 50 nor more than 60 days after the date of the Town Clerk's certificate that a sufficient petition is filed. If any other Town election is to occur within 75 days after the date of said certificate, the Town Council may, at its discretion, postpone the holding of the recall election to the date of such other election. If a vacancy occurs in said office after a recall election has been so ordered, the election shall nevertheless proceed as in this section provided. If the official sought to be recalled so requests, the Town Council shall make provisions for a public hearing on the matter, said hearing to take place not less than seven days prior to said election.
If a member of the Town Council is recalled, any such vacancy shall be filled in accordance with Article II, Section 2D, of the Town Charter.
The incumbent official shall continue to perform the duties of the office until the results of the recall election are certified. If not recalled the official shall continue in office for the remainder of the unexpired term, subject to subsequent recall only as provided in 169-7. If recalled in the recall election, the official shall be deemed removed upon the certification of the election results.
The ballots used in recall elections shall contain a separate question for each official whose recall is sought as follows: "Shall (name of official) be recalled from office?" and shall contain two separate boxes, one for a "yes" vote and one for a "no" vote.
No recall petition shall be filed against an official with fewer than 60 days of term remaining or within three months after such official takes office, nor, in the case of an official subjected to recall election and not removed thereby, until at least three months after that election.
No person who has been recalled from office or who has resigned from office while recall proceedings are pending shall be appointed to any Town office or Town board, commission or committee within two years after such removal by recall.
It is the intention of the municipality that each section of this chapter shall be deemed independent of all other sections herein, and that, if any provision within this chapter is declared invalid, all other sections shall remain valid and enforceable.