Organizers of the petition to recall the Hopkinton Select Board shared early results from their first day of collecting signatures. In total, more than 1,465 signatures were collected, with Board member Amy Ritterbusch receiving the most. The results are unofficial, and must be validated for authenticity by the Town Clerk.
>> RELATED: Exasperated Residents Seek to Recall Select Board
Unofficially, the organizers reported the following results:
- Amy Ritterbusch – 327
- Mary Jo Lafreniere – 322
- Irfan Nasrullah – 300
- Shahidul Mannan – 286
- Muriel Kramer – 230
These numbers are in alignment with a recent HopNews reader poll, which asked respondents to rank individual Select Board members in terms of overall confidence in their leadership.
Today, organizers gathered outside of the CVS and Price Chopper to greet shoppers as they made their pre-Superbowl shopping trip. Steve Snow, one of the leaders, said that a line had already formed before the signature table had been set up.
Per the Hopkinton Town Charter, the first phase of a recall requires organizers to collect 10% of registered voters (1,326) evenly distributed across all 5 voting precincts. The next phase requires 20% of voters to sign from any precinct.
Organizers were optimistic by the show of support from town residents, and made plans to collect additional signatures on Sunday, February 10 from 11-2 at the same locations.
“We will go door-to-door if we have to,” said representative Jim Scanlon. “The support we saw today tells us everything we suspected. There are many people in this town who are frustrated and sick and tired of the Select Board not listening to us, the people they are elected to represent.”
Lame. Let’s put energy into real issues
This is a real issue.
If the recall is successful & the Town Manager has resigned (anyone know when he is leaving?) will there be an immediate election to fill the vacancies? Also, how does this effect Town Meeting?
My understanding is that if the petitions are successful and the appropriate number of signatures are collected, this will result in a special election. If the current SB members lose the election, they will be removed from their position and I believe become ineligible to run for two years. I have heard that there are a number of community members ready to launch campaigns and serve on the SB. However, this process is arduous – there is a high standard for a recall.
This is a real issue that will affect real issues that are not currently being addressed.