Politics & Government

13 More Recall Petitions Filed Against Troy Mayor, City Council Members

Resident Nicholas Cherasaro Jr. filed petitions Monday to recall Janice Daniels, Councilmen Dane Slater and Wade Fleming and Mayor Pro Tem Maureen McGinnis.

Thirteen new recall petitions were filed Monday against four Troy elected officials in addition to the already filed against controversial conservative Troy Mayor Janice Daniels, who took office Nov. 14.

The 13 new petitions, filed by Daniels supporter and Troy resident Nicholas Cherasaro, include 10 petitions to recall Daniels and one petition each to recall Councilman Wade Fleming, Councilman Dane Slater and Mayor Pro Tem Maureen McGinnis.

Each petition to recall the mayor cites a different reason for the recall:

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

  • "For saying she would bring speakers in who would tell the people at a meeting that the homosexual lifestyle is dangerous which is supported by overwhelming documents that states that is true."
  • "For wearing tan shoes with a black suit to a council meeting on February 20th, 2012."
  • "For smiling at the public during a city council meeting on February 6th, 2010."
  • "For having perfect attendance as City of Troy Mayor since elected in November of 2011."
  • "For wearing a red hat with a red coat at the same time in front of the Channel 7 TV cameras."
  • "For voting for the Troy Public Library to be open on Saturdays to better serve the people of Troy."
  • "For going door to door and talking with city residents on their front porches."
  • "For taking the oath of office to uphold the US Constitution of State of Michigan with is inclusive of the Troy City Charter."
  • "For not voting for the Troy Transit Center because of the additional cost to the City of Troy for the years to come."
  • "For asking the Troy Chamber of Commerce to put their promise to cover operating and maintenance costs of the new transit center in writing."

In the recall petitions for Slater, McGinnis and Fleming, Cherasaro listed only "voting to approve a Transit Center cost not to exceed $6,272,500 grant to the City of Troy on January 17, 2012 (Resolution #2012-01-009)" as the reason he wishes to recall all three council members.

In Michigan, any reason listed for a recall, even if it is not true or relevant to the recall, may be approved so long as the language is sufficiently clear and the reason pertains to something that happened while the elected official was in office. 

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

New to Patch? Sign up for our daily newsletter.

Earlier this month, the Oakland County Election Commission from Recall Janice Daniels and rejected the language of another. The Commission .

Daniels, who has maintained in previous interviews that she is not worried about a recall election, gave a statement Tuesday afternoon: “Representative republicanism is challenging. It always has been. It always will be. But with all its flaws, it is still the best governmental system known to mankind. Let the process work itself out.”

Some Daniels opponents see the new petitions as an attempt to confuse voters who want to sign a petition to recall the mayor. Troy resident and Recall Janice Daniels member Matt Binkowski, who sponsored the original three petitions to recall the mayor, called the new petitions a "joke."

"It's not at all surprising that Janice's supporters would file 10 joke petitions with the County Elections Board," Binkowski said. "That's the problem with Janice and her supporters – they simply don't take the business of government seriously."

Councilman Wade Fleming decried the recall attempts. "I just think its political games being played," he said. "... We need to focus on the good things happening in Troy."

Dave Forsmark, spokesman for the Oakland County Clerk's office, said the tricky part now for either side will be gathering the required 8,000 signatures on any one of the petitions to recall any of the elected officials.

"It's going to come down to who's organized enough," he said, adding that only one recall petition per candidate is allowed on the ballot, should they receive enough signatures.

"The first one to come in with 8,000, they're the only ballot language on the election," he said.

Oakland County Treasurer Andy Meisner declined to comment specifically on the recall efforts in Troy, though he said he believes the recall process in Michigan is flawed. 

"As a general matter, I think that there’s a very low bar for approving recalls, and unlike some other states, a recall in Michigan can happen even where there’s no alleged criminal wrongdoing," Meisner said.

"As members of the Election Commission, we’re responsible for administering the law in its current form, and in its current form, we are to approve any proposed recall language, as long as that language is clear. It doesn’t really allow us to get into the substance of the arguments. It just says that if you understand the language, you have to approve it."

Oakland County Clerk Bill Bullard agrees with Meisner that the recall system in Michigan is flawed.

“Our role as the Election Commission is very, very limited,” he said. “It’s limited by law to decide if the language on a particular petition is clear enough to be circulated.”

“The fact is that all our staff is there to do is make sure the form is filled out properly," Forsmark added. "It's not our job to determine motives."

Binkowski said: "Unfortunately, it's reminiscent of the three fake library millage proposals that opponents of the library placed on the ballot back in 2010. Their goal is to obscure the legitimate recall efforts and create apathy among Troy voters. The good citizens of Troy won't be fooled this time, however."

A hearing for all 13 petitions will be in Pontiac in the courtroom of Chief Probate Judge Linda Hallmark at at 1:30 p.m. March 28 to "determine whether each reason for the recall stated in the petition is of sufficient clarity to enable the officer whose recall is being sought and the electors to identify the course of conduct which is the basis for the recall."

The clarity hearing for the revised recall petition from Recall Janice Daniels will be 11 a.m. Thursday in Judge Hallmark's courtroom.

Both hearings are open to the public.

Complete coverage

Daniels first came under fire in December for her  and has remained the center of controversy after  (a  was later approved), telling the  Gay-Straight Alliance  and writing a lengthy position paper some viewed as .

For comprehensive coverage of the recall effort, visit the Troy Mayor Janice Daniels topic page.

For the latest Troy news, follow Troy Patch on Facebook and Twitter.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here