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Kidwell recall effort faltering as organizers scramble for petition signatures
Published 10:52pm Wednesday, July 27, 2011It appears Niles Township Supervisor Jim Kidwell is safe from being recalled from office barring a furious last-minute effort by recall organizers.
Herschel Hoese, the township resident who filed the recall language against Kidwell in March, said in an interview Wednesday that he has gathered about 600 petition signatures. That leaves him about 300 shy of the amount needed for a recall item to be placed on the ballot at the end of the initial 90-day period.
He still has 60 days left of the remaining 90-day window to keep recall hopes alive. All signatures gathered in the first 90 days are no longer valid.
“It’s pretty much stalemated,” Hoese said. “It’s not over, but I’ll need some help.”
The recall effort was based on Kidwell distributing a news release to local media regarding an internal investigation of township Treasurer Jim Ringler that was discussed in a closed meeting. The investigation revealed Ringler had not violated any township policy, though.
Hoese’s petition asserted Kidwell “breached both the confidentiality of the township’s attorney-client privileged information of a closed session meeting … and the confidentiality of an employee’s right to a confidential investigation.”
Hoese said he started out with about eight people passing out petitions but several of them have dropped out of the effort.
“People are afraid to sign them and pass them (petitions). They’re afraid of retaliation,” he said. “I wish people were less passive when it comes to political issues. These are worthy issues that we’ve addressed.”
In a previous interview, Kidwell was critical of not only the recall effort against himself but the separate one targeting Ringler, Clerk Marge Durm-Hiatt and Trustees Richard Cooper and Richard Noble.
“If it was up to me, there would be no recalls on anybody down here,” he said. “Why can’t they wait until 2012?”
Hoese said he is willing to do that if need be.
“If worse comes to worse, another year and a half and people will vote him out,” Hoese said. “I’m counting on people to rally.”
Tony Millin, who is spearheading the other recall effort, couldn’t be reached for comment Wednesday.
Tags: Jim Kidwell
This reader thinks that Hoese has several issues that face him with this recall effort. First and foremost is that Mr. Kidwell is one of the BEST supervisors this Township has had in a long time. He actually has done work for the Township. He is actually facing issues that have been ignored over the last 15 to 20 years. In 3 years he has addressed issues like Eastgate demolition, sidewalks, road repair, code enforcement, just to name a few!!
I am also very tired of hearing that Ringler was, in his words, “exonerated” from any wrong doing. I think both Mr. Ringler and the writers of the local papers should look into this issue. As far as I know there are only three ways one can actually be exonerated from any charge and that is through a judge, jury, or the president of the United States. I don’t think an opinion from an attorney counts for any of those. Then there is the issue of the actual opinion. Is it valid? This reader has yet to actually see any documentation for this attorney,s opinion, whatever value it has.
Mr. Hoese I am sure the voters will rally in 2012, but I don’t think it will be for your team. If you lost help for fear of retaliation, what kind of people did you have helping you. Honest people don’t have to worry about such matters! Speaking of honesty Mr. Hoese, I am looking forward to you sharing with us how it is you got your illegal information to begin with. I don’t expect to ever hear the truth from you. Nothing presented by your folks has had any truth to it. Yes, I am sure you do worry about going against a police officer.
I stand behind Mr Kidwell 100%. Just because the board members don’t want their dirty laundry displayed doesn’t mean that Kidwell is wrong – it means they need to quit doing things they shouldn’t be doing. Kidwell just happened to be the one to take a stand and now he is being persecuted for it. They won’t get their signatures because everyone in Niles knows he does a good job – and the signatures of the board members and their friends and family aren’t going to prove to be enough!
You brought up a very good point! A verbal conclusion? Why in the world isn’t there some kind of report to confirm the “exoneration”? Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. Sounds fishy.