Flint Mayor Karen Weaver has until the end of the day Monday to challenge signatures on a recall petition against her.
Opponents started the recall effort after she supported hiring a new company to pick up Flint’s trash. Last summer, Weaver and Flint City Council fought over retaining Republic Services or hiring Rizzo Environmental Services. At one time, both companies had trucks rolling down city streets emptying trash cans. The dispute ended after Mayor Weaver dropped her support for Rizzo.
Rizzo has since been linked to a federal corruption probe.
Recall supporters collected nearly nine thousand signatures. County and city clerks purged thousands of signatures. But the recall petition still has a slim 200 valid-signature margin in order to get on the November ballot.
Genesee County Clerk John Gleason expects Weaver’s campaign will try to challenge enough signatures to scuttle the recall.
“Mayor Weaver and her team are very competitive. They are fighters,” Gleason said.
He says the final decision on placing the recall on the ballot will be made by the end of this week.
If the recall has enough valid signatures, prospective mayoral challengers will have until August 14th to submit enough signatures or pay $100 to earn a spot on the ballot.
Meanwhile, Flint police are looking into allegations that petition circulators misled some Flint residents into signing the recall petition. It’s unclear, even if anyone was misled, whether a crime had been committed.
