PETITIONS FILED TODAY (Mon. Aug. 16)

Recall Effort Against JANE MURRAY Goes Forward!
(Finally. A recall that the CAVE People do not like!)

Over 1400 petitions were filed this morning to have the "recall of Mayor Jane Murray" placed on the ballot, at least 250 more than the required number. The recall committee, headed by former Police Chief Tom Bihl, which was formed just over three weeks ago, needed to at least 1148 valid signatures of registered voters for the recall to go forward.

Tom Bihl and his committee should be commended for this outstanding effort. Following the recall of former-mayor, Greg Bauer, and several city council members over the years, the citizens of Portsmouth changed the City Charter to make it more difficult to get a recall issue on the ballot. In the past it was only necessary to obtain a number of signatures equal to 10% of the number of voters in the previous general election.

Some felt that this threshold was too low, and the citizens voted to change the charter to require 25% instead of 10%. Of course, this is a much higher standard to meet, but it ensures that a city official be an obvious screw-up in order to get recalled. In Jane Murray's case, her crazy, arrogant, and destructive behavior made it relatively easy for the committee to get the increased number of needed signatures--in just three weeks!

NEXT STEPS

Bihl submitted the signatures to the City Clerk, who is required by the City Charter to check each name on the petitions to make sure that they are registered voters and that the signature matches the signatures on file at the County Board of Elections. Invalid signatures are not counted. If the number of valid signature exceeds 1148, the City Clerk will notify City Council which is required to pass an ordinance to request the Board of Elections put the recall of Mayor Jane Murray on the ballot. The timing of Council's request will determine if the issue is on the November ballot or if a special election will have to be held, probably after the first of the year.

If the City Clerk determines that number of valid signatures is insufficient (less than 1148), which seems unlikely at this point, the committee is allowed additional time (up to ten days) to get additional signatures.

If the signatures can be verified fairly soon, if there is a sufficient number, AND if council acts in a timely manner, the citizens of Portsmouth will be able to vote to end the reign of Queen Jane and return are City to normalcy and, hopefully, to progress.

THANKS TO ALL WHO CIRCULATED AND SIGNED PETITIONS AND, ESPECIALLY, TO TOM BIHL AND HIS COMMITTEE. YOUR WORK IS APPRECIATED MORE THAN WE CAN EXPRESS.