An effort to recall Westerly Town Council president Chris Duhamel, a Democrat, has failed after organizers were unable to collect the required number of signatures to force a recall election, according to Westerly Town Manager Shawn Lacey. The deadline to submit the petition was 4:30 p.m. today.
Lacey said the organizers needed to collect 2,600 signatures to force the election.
The Westerly Republican Party, led by its chair, Christine Cooke was very active on social media soliciting signatures, but in recent weeks that effort seemed to wane.
According to Ballotpedia, the recall effort was initiated by Jim Tarbox, who Ballotpedia said, claimed that Duhamel had committed “a blatant violation of his oath to uphold the charter, and the public believes that this is a blatant violation of the charter and is sufficient grounds for removal.”
Duhamel, in a letter to the Westerly Sun, had maintained that the effort was “based on a blatantly false rumor that I intend to halt public beach access. On the contrary, I couldn’t be more protective of public access to the shoreline. For the 19 years that I have served on the Town Council, I have always striven to protect beach access and to lead my fellow councilors in that effort.”
The council is comprised of four Democrats, two Republicans, and an Independent.
Another firestorm is expected at Monday night’s council meeting, when there is expected to be an effort to censure one of the Republican Council members over what is being claimed is an inappropriate remark.
The Westerly recall effort was the third this year in Rhode Island, and the third that apparently failed.
In Coventry there was an effort to recall Council members Jonathan Pascua, Alisa Capaldi, and Hillary Lima for “circumnavigating” the town charter. That effort also failed because proponents of the recall were unable to gather sufficient signatures.
In Narragansett, an effort to recall three councilors was suspended. Gail Scowcroft, a Narragansett resident, filed the petition because of “proposed changes to or eliminations of 13 zoning ordinances and a change to the” town’s comprehensive plans,” according to Ballotpedia.
“The recall may be suspended, but it’s not off the table,” said Gail Scowcroft, of her effort to remove council members James Durkin, Donna Vignali, and Jason Colonies from office.
