One of the booths set up by signature gatherers for the John West recall campaign, Oct. 10, 2024.
Courtesy of Committee To Recall John West
Campaigners behind a recall effort for a commissioner of Josephine County in southern Oregon say they’ve submitted more than enough signatures to qualify for a future special election.
The final batch of signatures for a recall petition against County Commissioner John West was submitted to the County Clerk on Halloween Thursday, bringing the total to just over 7,500 signatures.
One of the campaign’s directors, Jay Meredith, said they were able to reach their goal during the 90-day signature gathering period.
“About 1,000 more than what the clerk required because ultimately there might be a couple of duplicates in there, there might be a couple that end up being not validated for whatever reason,” Meredith said.
John West was the only commissioner targeted for the recall in part because Commissioner Herman Baertschiger decided not to run for reelection this November. Interim County Commissioner Andreas Blech was only appointed in late July, and also decided not to run for election.
Meredith said they brought together a broad group of dissatisfied voters who feel their concerns haven’t been heard by county commissioners.
“And when they bring these concerns before the commissioners, the commissioners are not respecting the voice of the people,” he said.
Meredith said he was personally motivated by commissioners not providing enough funding to law enforcement during the last budget cycle.
He said some of the other groups include those disappointed by the decision to defund the OSU Extension Service District earlier this year, and a group who were mad about the decision to auction off county-owned timberland instead of selling the land to a conservation group.
Because of the upcoming November election, those signatures may not be validated by the county clerk until the end of the month. If they are, Meredith said they’re looking to hold a special election sometime in early January. He says he’s confident they have enough signatures because they were validating them during the collection process.
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