Randy Hall looks a bit more secure in the Ketchum mayor's seat. The Ketchum city clerk's office said a petition for his recall was not turned in to the city in time to get the issue on the November ballot.
Ketchum Clerk Sandra Cady said Tuesday that Idaho law requires a recall petition to be returned to the city clerk at least 45 days prior to an upcoming election if it is to be included in that election.
That means Anne Corrock, former Planning and Zoning commissioner and author of the petition, would have had to submit the required number of signatures by Sept. 19 to bring the issue to voters on Nov. 4.
But Corrock said she has received mixed information from the Idaho Secretary of State's Office regarding the deadline, and that she would wait to get a definitive answer before turning in the petition.
State law designates a 75-day limit allowed to collect the 418 signatures necessary, which began the day the petition went into circulation, on July 11. That deadline is today at 5 p.m.
After that, the city clerk turns the petitions over to the Blaine County Clerk's office, for verification. That process is allowed 15 days.
"It seems as if the city clerk has a different view from the state, and I've been trying to get the answer since mid-August," Corrock said Tuesday. "I never got the information on the drop-dead deadline from the city when I first started with the petition."
Corrock said she did not know how many signatures had been collected and would be sorting through those Tuesday night and Wednesday morning in anticipation of the 75-day deadline today.
"It's frustrating because there should have been a city attorney to answer these questions," Corrock said. "The lack of staff has been a disservice to this democratic process."
Cady said she made the requirements for the 45-day deadline clear to Corrock in July.
"I read her the statute," Cady said.
Ilene Goff, an elections clerk with the Idaho Secretary of State's office, said the 45 day time limit is in federal code. Ballots need to be printed and ready for mailing to absentee voters 45 days prior to an election.
"Had they started this earlier, they probably would have had time to get it done," Goff said.
If Corrock has indeed missed the deadline for the November election, she said she would not attempt to get the recall on the next possible election—in early February—even if she has the necessary signatures.
"This is what I promised the voters who signed the petition," Corrock said.
Hall expressed relief when he heard the news.
"I'm glad it's over and I'm sorry the community had to go through this," Hall said. "Change is hard, but we can change or die."
The recall effort evoked emotional responses on both sides of the issue recently, with some Hall opponents latching onto his past business experience in which his restaurant, China Pepper, closed with an outstanding IRS lien.
Hall has rebutted the numerous claims made in the language of the petition, and several Ketchum business owners and organizations, including the Wood River Economic Partnership and Sawtooth Board of Realtors, have vocally supported the mayor.
State law does not specify any grounds needed for a recall.
"My goal is to continue to find ways to move us forward thoughtfully," Hall said. "We need to keep looking for solutions for our community, which is contracting, and work to find the right balance."