The petition to recall Cottonwood Mayor Tim Elinski appears to have received enough valid signatures to proceed based on signatories’ addresses, but the Yavapai County Recorder’s Office may disqualify enough non-registered voters to invalidate the petition.
A group filed the petition with the Cottonwood City Clerk’s Office on Monday, Oct. 23. The group turned in 825 signatures, according to City Manager Scotty Douglass, but a hand count by the Cottonwood Journal Extra showed the total number turned in was approximately 800.
The minimum number of signatures required to trigger a recall election is 641, which is equal to 25% of all votes cast at the last election for all candidates for the office held by that elected official. In the 2020 election, 2,562 votes were cast for the mayor’s office, of which Elinski received 2,437 or 95.12%, against 125 write-in votes.
Of the approximately 800 signatures, only 671 of the petition’s signatories had addresses within city limits, while 129 gave addresses outside Cottonwood and their signatures will be disqualified. Some signers gave home addresses in Sedona, Clarkdale, Camp Verde, the Verde Villages and even Walmart.
Residents of Verde Santa Fe, Bridgeport, the Verde Villages and incorporated Yavapai County parcels are not within Cottonwood city limits and are not eligible to sign a petition pertaining to Cottonwood city officials even if they have a “Cottonwood” postal address, which is determined by the U.S. Postal Service to ease mail delivery and does not affect legal voting eligibility. These residents’ ineligible signatures will be removed from the final tally by the county recorder.
In addition, signatories must be registered voters. If an additional number of signatures are invalidated for lacking voter registration and the total number falls below the required threshold of 641, the petition will be rejected.
Petition Language
“We, the undersigned qualified electors, respectfully petition for a recall of Mayor Tim Elinski for the following reasons,” the petition stated. “Violating Ordinance 401, dated May 1, 2001, with respect to allowing a drag show [to] take place in a public building within the restricted area of 500 feet from two bars and a recreational public use ball court facility. Additionally, Mr. Elinski lied about not knowing or reading about Ordinance 401 when a FOIA request produced an email to him from the then-city clerk advising him and the city council about the existence of Ordinance 401. Mr. Elinski abused his office, along with the voter’s trust, by also violating Ordinance 1.10.010 when he refused to agendize the drag show on the city council agenda after receiving a request from two city council members, as required. Elinski lied when he stated that he never received these requests. The FOIA request produced emails from the two council members requesting the subject to be agendized.”
In spite of numerous requests of those circulating the petition to produce the alleged email to Elinski, the petitioners have refused to provide the email — a public record — they claim they have in their possession.
Neither DuVernay nor DeWillis appear to have filed formal complaints alleging any wrongdoing by Elinski.
“Mr. Elinski also displayed gross incompetence when he failed to perform his official duties in 2020 to honor the majority vote of the city council to decline mandating the wearing of masks during COVID-19. Recall for egregious behavior,” the petition concludes.
The council discussed the introduction of a draft ordinance that would restrict minors from attending adult-oriented performances, as per the request of council members Lisa DuVernay and Stephen DeWillis, during its Aug. 8 work session.
After a 4-3 vote, the council decided not to direct staff to pursue the creation of such an ordinance. Council members DuVernay, DeWillis and Derek Palosaari were in favor of moving the ordinance forward. The vote failed and the item cannot be brought back to the council.
After the Yavapai County Recorder’s Office receives petitions that have completed the city clerk’s signature review, the county recorder has 60 days to verify that the signatures are of registered voters who live within the Cottonwood city limits. The Cottonwood City Clerk’s Office will then determine if the final tally of verified signatures is less or greater than the threshold and accept or reject the petition. The clerk then has five days to notify the filer and two days to notify the mayor.
If the petition succeeds, the mayor will have five days to choose whether or not to resign or campaign in a recall election. If the mayor resigns, the position will be filled according to state law. If the mayor chooses to campaign in a recall election, the clerk will have 15 days to announce the date of the recall election, which will occur on the first consolidated election date that is at least 90 days in the future.
The earliest date that a recall election could be held is May 21, 2024. If the mayor is defeated in a recall election, the county will have six to 20 days to conduct an election canvass, after which Elinski would be removed from office sometime between late May and early June, with the recall winner taking his seat and possibly facing another vote in the Aug. 6 primary election, and a potential runoff vote on Nov. 5, 2024.
If Elinski wins the recall election, he will remain in office until after the general election on Nov. 5, when the new Cottonwood City Council will be sworn in. Elinski has reportedly said that he does not plan to run for a third term as mayor and may leave office in November.
