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Steve Rule recall, Canyon County Commission, Idaho (2016)
| Canyon County Commission recall |
|---|
| Officeholders |
| Recall status |
| See also |
| Recall overview Political recall efforts, 2016 Recalls in Idaho Idaho recall laws County commission recalls Recall reports |
An effort to recall Steve Rule from his position on the Canyon County Commission in Idaho was launched in June 2016. Canyon County resident Tony Navratil initiated the recall because of Rule's support of the county's plan for jail expansion. Navratil was angered that Rule was moving forward with the project when some people thought it was a bad idea. He called it a "disregard for public opinion."[1] Recall proponents failed to submit signatures by the deadline of September 6, 2016, and therefore the recall did not go to a vote.[2]
Background
Rule released a statement following the jail expansion meeting which described the history of the county's efforts regarding the project. The county tried three times, beginning in 2007, to pass a bond that would provide the funds to build a new jail. Rule stated that after those three attempts, he "finally got the message from voters, 'Do not bond for more property taxes to solve our jail problems!'" When the county controller said that the county had more tax dollars saved than it should, Rule said he began working on a new plan for the jail. He and Commissioner Craig Hanson proposed building an addition onto the current jail using existing tax funds. The $3 million needed to operate the addition would raise property taxes about $20 per year for a $100,000 home.[3] Below is the concluding paragraph from his statement:
| “ | No matter how you slice it, both options—either a new $50+ million jail built with bond money or an expansion built with money already saved—will still raise taxes to pay for operation and staffing. I believe using already saved tax dollars now is a much better choice for all taxpayers, many of who are on a fixed income, than gambling on "big increase in property taxes" 5 or 10 years downstream. More importantly, our County's residents' safety is addressed now, not someday.[4] | ” |
| —Commissioner Steve Rule[3] | ||
Path to the ballot
- See also: Laws governing recall in Idaho
After a jail expansion meeting, Navratil began collecting the 20 necessary signatures that he needed to submit to the county clerk with his recall petition. The Canyon County Clerk's Office approved the petition.[5] Recall proponents needed to collect 16,300 valid signatures within 75 days of the date that the recall was approved. The number of signatures required for a recall election in Idaho is 20 percent of the number of persons that voted in the last preceding election for the office of incumbent being recalled. Navratil said he hoped to get the recall on the November 2016 general election ballot.[1] The recall petition was not submitted by the deadline of September 6, 2016.[2]
See also
External links
Recent news
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Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Idaho Press-Tribune, "Resident starts petition to recall county commissioner," June 17, 2016
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Idaho Press-Tribune, "Rule recall petition was not received by elections office," September 9, 2016
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Idaho Press-Tribune, "Steve Rule statement," June 17, 2016
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Idaho Press, "Resident gathers first round of signatures for commissioner recall," June 28, 2016
