Ellie Dennis recall, Whitehall City Council, Michigan (2018)
| Whitehall City Council recall |
|---|
 |
| Officeholders |
| Recall status |
| See also |
| Recall overview Political recall efforts, 2017 Recalls in Michigan Michigan recall laws City council recalls Recall reports |
An effort in Whitehall, Michigan, to recall City Councilwoman Ellie Dennis was initiated in December 2017. A recall petition was approved for circulation by the Muskegon County Election Commission.[1] Dennis appealed the recall, delaying the gathering of signatures until January 2018. Recall organizers were required to submit 231 valid signatures by February 2, 2018, in order to trigger a recall election for the ballot on May 8, 2018.[2]
Recall supporters
Recall organizer Sandra Gibbs initiated the effort due to accusations that Dennis violated the state's Open Meetings Act on November 14, 2017. The recall language alleges that Dennis motioned for the city council to hold a private vote for mayor and mayor pro-tem. The motion was approved by a 4-3 vote and Dennis was elected pro-tem, while Debi Hillebrand was elected mayor. A public vote was held on November 21, 2017, with the appointments confirmed by the council in 4-3 votes.[1]
Recall opponents
Dennis offered the following response to the recall effort:
| “ |
I know that I have not done anything wrong. What we did was ask for information from our city attorney, is there a different way we can vote for mayor and mayor pro-tem. We raised the issue of voting by paper ballot, and he said yes you can. That was (a decision made) under guidance from our city attorney. Had I known that was improper or perhaps illegal, we wouldn't have done that. I don't really understand the motivation.[1][3] |
” |
| —Ellie Dennis (2017) | ||
Path to the ballot
- See also: Laws governing recall in Michigan
Each recall petition in Michigan must be approved for circulation during a clarity hearing held by the county election commission. This hearing determines if the charges made in the petition are clear enough for a voter to understand. If approved for circulation, a recall organizer can initiate the signature-gathering process.[1]
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Mayor City council Whitehall recall. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 MLive, "'Secret vote' sparks recall effort against new Whitehall mayor pro-tem," December 6, 2017
- ↑ Michigan Live, "Recall effort approved as Whitehall mayor pro-tem loses appeal," January 18, 2018
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
 |
State of Michigan Lansing (capital) |
|---|---|
| Elections |
What's on my ballot? | Elections in 2025 | How to vote | How to run for office | Ballot measures |
| Government |
Who represents me? | U.S. President | U.S. Congress | Federal courts | State executives | State legislature | State and local courts | Counties | Cities | School districts | Public policy |