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“Emotion comes into play, and this is something that emotion should not have a part in.”

– City Councilor John O’Hara

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WESTBROOK – “I want a recall, but we’re going to do it right,” City Councilor Victor Chau told his colleagues Monday at a meeting of the council’s Committee of the Whole.

Discussing a proposed amendment to the Westbrook City Charter that would add a provision for recalling elected officials, Chau and three fellow councilors supported boosting the requirements for initiating and completing a recall process.

The councilors, Chau, Brendan Rielly, Gary Rairdon and John O’Hara, supported the change due to concerns for a recall provision that could be too lenient and allow for recall petitions to be submitted on a whim.

During the City Council meeting that followed, the council unanimously voted to send an amended proposal to a public hearing, which is scheduled for Monday, Sept. 8.

Any amendment to the Westbrook City Charter requires a citywide referendum. Following the Sept. 8 public hearing, the council must take final action the following Monday, Sept. 15, in order for a final ordinance to be drafted before Sept. 22. Absentee ballots need to be available one month prior to the election, which is Tuesday, Nov. 4.

The proposed recall provision, drafted by City Attorney Natalie Burns, stipulated that a recall petition must be initiated by five or more registered voters in Westbrook, and must be signed by 10 percent of the number of registered voters at the time of the previous municipal election. This mirrors the citizen petition process already in the City Charter.

However, the committee voted 4-3 in support of raising those numbers to require 25 signatures to initiate a process, and 25 percent of the registered voters from the last municipal election to support the recall. In the case of a ward official elected by the voters in that specific ward, a recall would require 25 percent of the voters in that ward who voted in the last municipal election.

O’Hara said that the council needed to have the details of the proposed provision “hammered out” prior to any public hearing, in order to avoid confusion by those who may want to speak on the recall ordinance.

“Emotion comes into play, and this is something that emotion should not have a part in,” he said.

Councilor Michael Foley asked that city administration “take an inventory” of neighboring communities who have recall ordinances, and what numbers those municipalities require for a petition.

Foley added disappointment that the process toward establishing this provision was not kicked off until now, given that Westbrook resident and radio talk show personality Ray Richardson brought a recall request before the council in April.

“It’s disappointing that the committee has not been convened sooner,” he said, adding that it feels like a rushed process.

The basis of the drafted provision states that any elected official may be recalled and removed from office by the voters of the city, “except that this provision shall not apply to a member of either body who has one year or less to serve in his or her term.”

The provision dictates that any petition to recall must be certified by the City Clerk no later than Nov. 30 of the year “immediately preceding the end of that elected official’s current term.”