CASCO – A petition backing a proposal to allow Casco voters to recall selectmen has gained enough signatures to be placed on the town ballot for the Nov. 2 election.

Former Selectman James Gerry and several other Casco residents gained 231 signatures during the past few weeks to make the referendum question possible. The question posed to Casco voters doesn’t recall any of the sitting selectmen; it merely would institute a new town ordinance allowing for a recall.

“I was under the impression there was a recall process in place, but there isn’t. We’re trying to change that,” Gerry said. “We have the right to vote them in. People should have the right to remove them if they’re not doing things in the best interest of the town.”

According to Town Manager David Morton, the recall process would require that 10 percent of voters in the previous gubernatorial election sign a petition for the removal of a selectman. If the proper threshold for signatures is reached, the recall would be put to a townwide vote in which a simple majority would be needed at election time to remove a selectman.

Gerry said he was inspired to enact a recall process in Casco because of the current board’s behavior in recent months. Gerry said he and his fellow signature gatherers are particularly dissatisfied with newly elected board members Mary Fernandes, Carroll Morton and Ray Grant. Gerry made it clear, however, that the group’s aim isn’t to remove those selectmen.

“It isn’t our intention to remove them, no,” he said. “We are hoping they start focusing on the town’s business. The biggest feeling is we want the option to recall. And right now we don’t have that option.”

Former Selectman Calvin Nutting, one of the petitioners, said townspeople are worried about the direction the new board is taking.

“It’s quite obvious, the whole town is dissatisfied since the election of the two new selectmen (Fernandes and Grant). They’re addressing their own agenda rather than doing the town’s business,” Nutting said.

Grant – who drew harsh criticism recently for trying to convene an executive session during the Aug. 31 meeting to discuss the job description of Town Manager David Morton, a move seen by many in attendance as illegal, since Morton wasn’t given prior notice of the meeting as required by law – was one of the 231 Casco residents who signed the petition. Grant said this week that he has “no problem with the recall.”

“If people don’t want the selectmen, they shouldn’t be there, and that’s what I said at the meeting,” Grant said.

Sensing many in town are critical of his handling of town business, Grant said he is trying his best to be open regarding Morton’s managing of Casco Helping Casco, a fuel fund that a recent audit revealed was spent in some instances on items other than fuel. Grant said he is trying to resolve the situation and that townspeople are misinterpreting his intentions.

“This isn’t a personal vendetta,” Grant said. “The previous board stonewalled hoping it would go away, but it didn’t go away. I thought maybe we should get the evidence out there and let (the townspeople) decide. I’m just trying to get all the facts out,” Grant said.

Regarding the controversial call to move into executive session, which worried some residents at the meeting because Morton could have sued since he wasn’t giving prior notification, Grant said he is aware that people believe it was an illegal motion, although he added that an official legal interpretation hasn’t yet been made.

“I’m not perfect, I don’t know if it was illegal or not. I wished I had known,” Grant said. “But I can’t ask Dave a personal question without going into executive session. That’s what I was trying to do.”