Politics & Government

Recall Efforts Against Shelby Twp. Supervisor Dies

County officials said petitioners who filed recall signatures against Shelby Township Supervisor Rick Stathakis did not collect enough valid signatures.

A recall effort to remove Shelby Township Supervisor Rick Stathakis has failed.

Macomb County Clerk Carmella Sabaugh sent a letter to Shelby Township resident Tom Delise, who filed the petitions at the end of May, saying there were an insufficient number of valid signatures to hold a special recall election in November.

Angry at zoning decisions, Delise turned in 7,275 signatures on May 23. Shelby Township officials said the petitions ultimately fell short of the 6,318 signatures, by 501.

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Nearly 1,400 signatures were eliminated because they came from people who lived outside the township, had clerical errors such as wrong dates and incomplete addresses or were duplicates.

“We found hundreds of fraudulent signatures, as well as other problems,” said Mark Grebner, President of Practical Political Consulting, a Lansing-based firm hired by Stathakis to analyze the petitions. 

Find out what's happening in Shelby-Uticawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

“Our petition tally showed that 80 percent of the signatures on the petitions were collected by police union members, Nightingale towing and family members and casual workers hired from cities like Detroit, Troy and Warren,” said Stathakis in a written statement. “These circulators did not have the number of signatures that they claimed they had—in fact, far less than what was reported in the newspapers.”

The failure of the petition also ends Stathakis’ lawsuit against Sabaugh and Shelby Township Clerk Terri Kowal, according to the paper. Stathakis had filed a lawsuit to try and stop the county and the city from counting the signatures because the petitions were turned in on Monday, May 23, which was two days after the deadline. County officials had told petitioners it was OK to turn in the signatures on Monday because the building was closed Saturday.

Recall signatures of Shelby Township residents who want Treasurer Paul Viar to be recalled were turned in to the Macomb County Elections Commission on May 26.

The signatures are still being processed. Stathakis and Viar were targeted for a recall because of 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.  Delise claimed the two favored builders’ interests rather than residents'.

“Now that this distraction is behind us, the Board of Trustees will continue our work and will stay focused on managing the important issues as they relate to township finances, public safety and quality of life," said Stathakis.


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