Cottonwood resident Cathy Ransom submitted the petitions to recall Cottonwood City Councilwoman Lisa DuVernay to the City Clerk on Tuesday, March 5.
DuVernay did not respond for a request for comment on the recall.
Signatures were collected with the support of a local nonprofit, the Rural Organizing Initiative, and representatives stated they are confident that the recall will move forward to an election.
According to the petition, DuVernay is being recalled on the grounds that on Aug. 8, 2023, she showed a pornographic video at a Cottonwood City Council meeting where children were present.
DuVernay also appeared to threaten legal action against the city if the mayor did not instruct staff to draft a city ordinance which had already been voted down by the majority of the council, according to the petitioners.
On Oct. 3, 2023, when concerns were addressed about the appearance of nepotism and conflict of interest if her husband was appointed to the Cottonwood Planning and Zoning Commission, DuVernay stated during the discussion prior to the vote that she understood conflicts of interest.
Council members must recuse themselves from voting on any issue on which their vote might appear inappropriate due to a personal conflict of interest.
DuVernay did not recuse herself during the vote, but instead voted in favor of appointing her husband to the commission.
“Because DuVernay does not appear to understand the policies and procedures of the council and city staff and because she does not appear to be concerned about wasting taxpayer dollars in pursuit of her personal agenda,” Ransom stated in the recall petition, “I request a recall vote of the citizens of the city of Cottonwood, Arizona so the taxpayers can decide if she should continue to serve on the City Council.”
Now that the recall petitions have been submitted, they go to the Cottonwood City Clerk, then the Yavapai County Recorder for verification. Once the signatures are verified and the threshold of 361 is met — based on a percentage of votes for that seat in the prior election, which took place in 2022 — the recalled candidate has an option to resign or a special recall election will be scheduled.
Depending on when the Yavapai County Recorder’s Office verifies the signatures, the date of this recall election may coincide with the primary election on July 30. City of Cottonwood elections are mail-only, so if DuVernay does not resign and the election to goes forward, voters in the city will receive their ballots in the mail. The recall election will be on a separate ballot than the primary ballot.
“Voters in Cottonwood have really stepped up to make their will known,” stated Julie Fernatt, President of Rural Organizing Initiative. “They want the city council to get back to the business of running the city. Fortunately, we have some strong candidates running for the open seats, and on July 30, voters in the city of Cottonwood will be able to select the best people for the job. Part of how DuVernay got elected was that not enough people ran for City Council — but that won’t be an issue this year.”
As of press time, three candidates have pulled packets to run for mayor — Councilman Michael Mathews, Gregg Feldman and Ann Shaw — and eight candidates — Councilwoman Helaine Kurot, Billy Tinnin, Robert Marks, Felicia Coates, Holly Grigaitis, Heather Piper White, Joy Mosley and Lindsay Masten — have pulled packets to run for three open seats on City Council.
The August 2022 election had only two candidates running for three open seats, DuVernay and current Vice Mayor Debbie Wilden, who were both elected.
Stephen DeWillis ran as a write-in candidate for the third seat. He was subsequently elected in the general election in November 2022.
