Laclede Water recall halted

LACLEDE — A pending recall election targeting a Laclede Water District board member has been torpedoed on technical grounds, according to Bonner County Clerk’s Office records.

The effort sought to unseat Randal McLain and Gerald Doyle, but McLain abruptly resigned amid escalating rancor between the board and a group of the district’s aggrieved customers.

Recall backers needed signatures of at least 20 percent of the district’s eligible voters because there were no election records available for the past six years. Recall organizers were told last fall by the county that they met the threshold after bringing in a series of signed positions over a period of time.

However, state law requires recall petitions and attached signature sheets must be presented all at once on the same day, according to Idaho Chief Deputy Secretary of State Tim Hurst.

“Unlike other petitions for which multiple signatures pages may be submitted during the signature-gathering period, this law does not allow for additional signatures to be submitted once the clerk has verified them,” Bonner County Clerk Ann Dutson-Sater said in a Jan. 21 letter to recall advocates.

The controversial recall election of Lake Pend Oreille School District Chairman Steve Youngdahl was scuttled on identical grounds. Youngdahl was targeted for using misleading information as a basis for recommending that school district staff be trained and equipped with firearms, an allegation which he denied.

State law allows backers of the Youngdahl and Doyle recalls to make another pass at calling for an election after a 90-day waiting period.

Backers of the Laclede Water District recall alleged nepotism, fiscal mismanagement and violations of Idaho’s open meeting and public records laws. Supporters of the recall targets countered that the claims are unsubstantiated and driven by out-of-state activists.