Section 42. - May be removed after six months.
Section 43. - Ten percent of voters.
Section 44. - Petition to be filed.
Section 45. - Petition published.
Section 46. - To be signed by thirty-five percent.
Section 49. - Removed officer not to be appointed.
Section 42. - May be removed after six months.
The holder of any elective office either by election or appointment to fill a vacancy, may be removed at any time after six months from the date of his accession to said office, by the registered voters in the City, in the manner set forth in the following sections. (Amended Election, November 3, 1998).
Section 43. - Ten percent of voters.
An affidavit in triplicate shall be made by a person or persons representing at least ten percent of the voters registered in the City as shown by the return of the last general City election of the officer sought to be recalled, which persons shall be named in the affidavit and same filed with the city clerk, proposing such recall and setting forth in a statement of not more than two hundred words the grounds therefor. One of such affidavits shall be sent by the city clerk by registered mail to the residence address of the officer sought to be recalled, and said officer shall have five days after the mailing of such affidavit to formulate and deliver to the city clerk a statement of not more than two hundred words setting forth the reasons justifying such officer's course. The reasons for and against the recall of said officer shall be printed in the heading of the petition filed; provided, that if no reasons against the recall are submitted by said officer the petition shall be valid if otherwise conforming to the provisions hereof. (Amended Election, November 3, 1998).
Section 44. - Petition to be filed.
When the five days have expired from the date of mailing said affidavit to the officer whose recall is sought, the persons desiring said recall shall file with the city clerk a petition for the recall of such officer containing in the heading thereof the reasons for the recall as stated in the affidavit and the reason against the recall if any may have been filed. Said petition shall have attached thereto blanks with lines sufficient for signatures of not less than fifty percent of the registered voters in the City, as shown by the County Election Board registration records at the time the petition is filed. (Amended Election, November 3, 1998).
Section 45. - Petition published.
The city clerk shall then cause to be published in some newspaper of general circulation in the City of Edmond, a notice to the voters, stating the name of the officer whose recall is sought and notifying persons desiring to sign said petition, that they may present themselves at the office of the city clerk at the city hall, within thirty days from the publication of said notice and sign said petition. One publication of said notice shall be sufficient. During said thirty days, Sundays and legal holidays excepted, the city clerk shall remain continuously in his office between the hours of one-thirty p.m. and five p.m. for the purpose of receiving signatures to said petition. Failure on the part of the city clerk to keep his office open as herein specified, unless unavoidably prevented by sickness, shall be adjudged a misdemeanor and upon conviction thereof he shall be punished by a fine of not less than Ten Dollars and not more than Nineteen Dollars, and each day said clerk violates the provisions hereof shall constitute a separate and distinct offense.
Section 46. - To be signed by thirty-five percent.
When said petition has been signed by thirty-five percent of the registered voters in the City as shown by the returns of the last general City election of the officer sought to be recalled, said petition shall be deemed sufficient to authorize the calling of an election for the purpose of electing a successor to such officer, and it shall be the duty of the mayor and council or the city clerk, as hereinafter provided, to call such election. Said petition shall be open at all times to the inspection of any registered voter of the City and when requested to do so by any registered voter, the city clerk shall total the number of signatures to the petition and shall compare same with the registration lists containing the names of the voters of the City, and at any time within thirty days from the date of the first publication of the notice to voters when there shall be a number of signers to said petition equal to thirty-five percent of the registered voters to said City qualified to vote for a successor to such officer as shown by the returns of the last general City election of the officer sought to be recalled; and in any event, not later than five days after the expiration of said thirty days, the said city clerk shall certify the sufficiency or insufficiency of the petition to the mayor and council, and he shall further certify that all signatures to the petition are genuine, and were affixed to said petition in his office and in his presence, and that each signer thereof either read said petition or had same read to him before signing same, whereupon the mayor and council, if said petition is sufficient as provided herein, shall within ten days from the date of the clerk's certificate, call the election petitioned for; and said election shall be held as soon as it can be scheduled by the County Election Board. If the recall of the mayor alone, or the mayor and one or two of the councilmen is sought, the remaining councilmen shall call the election. If the recall of the mayor and more than two councilmen is sought, the city clerk shall call the election. Said election shall be called and be conducted and the results declared in all respects as in other city elections. The successor of any officer so recalled and removed shall hold office during the unexpired term of his predecessor. (Amended Election, November 3, 1998).
If sufficient signatures are not affixed to said petition within thirty days of the first publication of the notice to voters, said petition shall remain on file with the city clerk and said recall shall be denied; provided, that the failure to obtain sufficient signatures shall be no bar to the institution of other proceedings in conformity with this Article.
Any person sought to be removed may be a candidate for office to succeed himself, and if he so requests in writing, the proper officer or officers shall place his name on the official ballot. In such recall election, the candidate receiving the highest number of votes shall be declared elected. If at such election some person other than the incumbent received the highest number of votes, the said incumbent shall be deemed to have been removed and shall vacate the office upon the qualification of his successor, which shall be within ten days from the declaration of the result. Otherwise the incumbent shall remain in office.
Section 49. - Removed officer not to be appointed.
No person who has been removed from office by recall, or who has resigned from such office while recall proceedings were pending against him, shall be appointed to any office under the city government, within one year after such removal by recall or resignation.