Petitioners Submit Signatures to Recall Stathakis

Nearly 7,600 Shelby Township voters signed a petition to recall Supervisor Richard Stathakis. The signatures were turned into the Macomb County Elections Commission on Monday afternoon.

If the commission and Shelby Township verify the signatures, the recall will be placed on the November general election ballot.

Shelby residents Nick Nightingale, along with his parents, John and Marsha Nightingale, and Tom Delise watched as election specialists counted 746 pages full of signatures.

Stathakis had not returned calls and messages left by Patch seeking comment as of 3:30 p.m. Monday.

Nick Nightingale said he is hoping Stathakis will step down before the township spends any additional taxpayer dollars on the recall election. “If Supervisor Stathakis wants to do the right thing by the citizens of Shelby Township he will resign,” he said.

Delise filed recall petitions against Stathakis and Treasurer Paul Viar, claiming their votes on the rezoning of two pieces of property—one on 24 Mile and Schoenherr roads and the other on 22 Mile and Van Dyke Avenue—favored builders’ interests rather than residents.

"To me, most of that board up there is working for the builders and not the citizens," Delise had told Patch. The language for both recalls was approved in December.

The language on each recall petition expires after 180 days. Organizers have 90 days from the time they collect the first signature to turn in the amount needed for the recall. In this case, 6,313 signatures were needed for both Stathakis and Viar. That number represents 25 percent of the people who voted in the November 2008 election.

The deadline for Stathakis was May 21, but it was extended to the May 23 because the cutoff date fell on a weekend. The commission has 35 days to verify the signatures.

John Nightingale said he has enough signatures to put Viar’s recall on the November ballot. The recall signatures for Viar must be turned into the elections commission by May 26.

Nick Nightingale said petitioners collected 1,300 signatures more than they needed to get the Stathakis recall on the ballot. “We needed a buffer in case they want to contest any signatures,” he said.

Shelby Township Clerk Terri Kowal said that 6,291 people voted for Stathakis and 4,821 people voted for Viar in the last election. More than 7,000 people have signed the recall petitions.

“This recall effort is the direct result of the citizens of Shelby Township trying to do the greater good for the community and restore integrity and trust back to the board of trustees, which represents us and the citizens of Shelby Township,” said Nick Nightingale.

John Nightingale said he doesn’t feel like celebrating after turning in the petitions.

“I am not happy that I had to do this to anyone,” he said. “My intention was never to hurt anyone but I feel they didn’t give us a choice, but I feel it was my moral obligation to do this.”

Shelby resident Sal Badalamenti said that if it comes to light that somehow they prospered out of the rezoning of the property, due process has to be carried out.

“In my opinion, I have heard one too many stories of city workers going door-to-door asking to recall the politicians. This leads me to believe that it’s a double-edged sword and there’s more than one issue,” he said.