Laclede Water recall election set for Tuesday

SANDPOINT — The Laclede Water District recall election remains set for Tuesday despite a late-in-the-game effort to halt the proceeding.

Counsel for Harvey Hallenbeck, the recall’s target, filed a complaint for injunctive relief to derail the election. Hallenbeck’s Sandpoint attorney, H. Thomas Vanderford, argued the recall should not be held because backers of the ouster didn’t collect enough signatures to trigger the election.

The Bonner County Clerk’s Office certified on May 30 that recall backers had obtained signatures from 20 percent of the water district’s registered voters, enough to call for an election.

Vanderford filed for injunctive relief on Aug. 11, arguing that recall organizers actually needed signatures from 50 percent of the electorate because the district had conducted an election with the past six years.

Vanderford contends the district held an election in 2010, but the results were turned over to the county as required by state law, according to court documents.

Bonner County Clerk Ann Dutson-Sater said the county has no such election records, however.

Laclede water could not provide proof that they had an election in 2010 and we have nothing in our files to indicate they held an election,” Dutson-Sater said on Wednesday.

Dutson-Sater added that the county has done everything in accord with Idaho Code and is proceeding with the election.

The recall was initiated after Hallenbeck refused to resign from the district’s board of directors in May. Fellow Director Chris Giese asked for Hallenbeck’s resignation due to his hostility toward district critics and aggressive behavior with other board members.

Fellow board members summoned a sheriff’s deputy to their Aug. 13 meeting because Hallenbeck was reportedly disruptive and argumentative. Hallenbeck was escorted from the meeting, but was later allowed to rejoin it.