Mayor and city council recall, Silverton, Colorado (2021)

• Recall efforts
  • Recall efforts by state
  • Recall efforts by office
  • Recall efforts by year
  • Upcoming recall elections
• Local recalls
  • City council recalls
  • Mayoral recalls
  • County commission recalls
  • County official recalls
  • School board recalls
  • Sheriff recalls
  • Special district recalls
• State and federal recalls
  • State executive recalls
  • State legislator recalls
  • U.S. Congress recalls
• Laws governing recall
  • States that have pre-petition signature requirements for recalls
  • States that require grounds for recalls
• Analysis
  • What are recalls?
  • Recall terms
  • 2024 year-end analysis
  • 2024 mid-year analysis
  • 2023 year-end analysis
  • 2023 mid-year analysis
  • 2022 year-end analysis
  • 2022 mid-year analysis
  • 2021 year-end analysis
  • 2021 mid-year analysis
  • 2020 year-end analysis
  • 2020 mid-year analysis
  • 2019 year-end analysis
  • 2019 mid-year analysis
  • 2018 year-end analysis
  • 2018 mid-year analysis
  • 2017 year-end analysis
  • 2017 mid-year analysis
  • 2016 year-end analysis
  • 2016 mid-year analysis

Silverton Mayor and City Council recall
Officeholders
Shane Fuhrman Sallie Barney Jordan Bierma
Recall status
Recall defeated
Recall election date
October 12, 2021
See also
Recall overview Political recall efforts, 2012 Recalls in Colorado Colorado recall laws Mayoral recalls City council recalls Recall reports

A special election to recall Mayor Shane Fuhrman, Mayor Pro Tem Sallie Barney, and Trustee Jordan Bierma was scheduled for October 12, 2021, in Silverton, Colorado. None of the officials were recalled from office.

Recall organizers said that Fuhrman had broken campaign promises to expand affordable housing in the town and that both he and Bierma declined to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance during a board meeting. They added that Barney and Bierma's opposition to allowing off-road vehicles in the town hurt constituents' interests. Fuhrman responded that his petition contained “outright lies that were uninvestigated," while Barney said the recall was a "huge waste of town resources."

Recall vote

Fuhrman recall

Shane Fuhrman recall, 2021

Shane Fuhrman won the Mayor of Silverton recall election on October 12, 2021.

			Recall  Vote	%	Votes
			Yes	44.9	214
		✔	No	55.1	263
			Total Votes		477

---

It has been certified. Source 1 Source 2

Barney recall

Sallie Barney recall, 2021

Sallie Barney won the Silverton Board of Trustees recall election on October 12, 2021.

			Recall  Vote	%	Votes
			Yes	41.2	197
		✔	No	58.8	281
			Total Votes		478

---

It has been certified. Source 1 Source 2

Bierma recall

Jordan Bierma recall, 2021

Jordan Bierma won the Silverton Board of Trustees recall election on October 12, 2021.

			Recall  Vote	%	Votes
			Yes	42.3	203
		✔	No	57.7	277
			Total Votes		480

---

It has been certified. Source 1 Source 2

Fuhrman replacement question

Voters were also asked to select a candidate for mayor, if the recall was successful. Bill Fries filed to run for mayor, but lost after the recall was defeated.

Trustee replacement question

Voters were also asked to select a candidate for trustee, if the recall of either Barney or Bierma was successful. Jereld Chambers, Barbara Renowden, and Ron Wakefield filed to run for Silverton Board of Trustees, but lost after the recall was defeated.

Recall supporters

The recall effort was initiated by residents Cole Davenport, Gigi Raine, and Floyd Barela. The text of the recall petition for each official appears below.

Barney's petition said the following.

“

Sallie Barney took an oath to uphold the constitution of the state of Colorado, which shows she isn't here to stand up for Silvertonians. Voting out economic growth for people who have lived or want to own a small business after saying on her platform that she supported town workers and affordable housing. Her views on OHV's [off-highway vehicles] were she 'didn't have any data to make any recommendations' and 'they must have benefit'. She 'liked seeing OHV's when the train wasn't here'. Sallie also wanted 'people to live here all year round without job insecurity'. Due to incompetence of knowing how trustee meeting laws work and lack thereof knowledge of our community issues to help provide an economy for Silverton that works for all Silvertonians, Sallie Barney should be recalled for not having the best interests of the Town of Silverton. Her lack of transparency and knowledge has shown her to be unfit to serve.

”

Fuhrman's petition stated the following.

“

-Conflict of interest using the elected position of Silverton Mayor to promote projects that will enrich himself -Mayor Fuhrman campaigned on a platform of affordable housing for the service industry. He and his investors purchased the only affordable building in town that houses service workers with the intent to convert the apartments to condominiums for sale and used as vacation rentals. -Mayor Fuhrman is currently not pushing the Town of Silverton to develop and build affordable housing -Mayor Fuhrman refused to stand for the pledge of allegiance at the opening of the April 12, 2021 Silverton board meeting

”

Bierma's petition said the following.

“

Jordan Bierma took an oath to uphold the constitution of the state of Colorado. On his platform for interview as trustee, Bierma said he would like to see more Veteran help in our community. By refusing to stand up for the Pledge of Allegiance, shows he isn't here to stand up for Silvertonians. Lying to the people about his views of Silverton and OHV's [off-highway vehicles], Bierma has voted out economic growth for people who have lived or want to own a small business. Due to incompetence and the lack thereof knowledge of our community issues, to help provide an economy for Silverton that works for all Silvertonians, Jordan Bierma should be recalled for not having the best interests of the Town of Silverton. His lack of transparency has shown him to be unfit to serve.

”

Recall opponents

Bierma, Barney, and Fuhrman each offered a response to the recall effort, which appear below.

Bierma said, "After much deliberation I have decided to not protest the petition for my recall. ... Ultimately I believe it is a further waste of taxpayer money and I would rather win or lose my recall election based on the merits of my abilities rather than the voiding of a nonsensical petition because of an individual’s willingness to lie under oath and their inability to write coherent sentences.”

Barney said, “As a group of trustees, the three of us have been consistently thoughtful and well-researched. I think we’ve handled issues with fidelity and integrity. ... I see the recall as an overreaction to a group of elected officials doing what they were elected to do and a misuse of that tool and its role in a democracy."

Fuhrman said that the petition was correct about his not standing for the Pledge of Allegiance. However, Fuhrman denied that he had broken campaign promises to expand affordable housing. He said that the apartment building he purchased "is not the only affordable building in town nor is it deed-restricted as affordable housing," adding that he did not intend to covert the building into a vacation rental property.

Path to the ballot

See also: Laws governing recall in Colorado

The recall election was scheduled for October 12, 2021. Recall organizers said that about 130 people had signed the petitions.

The filing deadline to run to replace the three officials was August 28, 2021.

See also

• Recall campaigns in Colorado
• Political recall efforts, 2021
• City council recalls
• Mayoral recalls

External links

• Search Google News for this topic
• Town of Silverton, Colorado