A recall petition was filed by Amanda Powell on Wednesday, July 23 to remove Auburn’s Mayor Chris Erickson from office. Those petitions were released to Powell on Monday, August 11, and Powell will have 30 calendar days from the 11th to gather 303 signatures from registered voters currently living in Auburn.
That number is calculated from the total number of votes Erickson got in the last mayoral election, which was 858 votes. 35 percent of that number is 303, and those signatures must come from registered voters that live in Auburn. According to County Election Commissioner Diane Johnson, those who wish to sign the petition must be registered prior to signing. The deadline for signatures is Tuesday, September 9, and if enough signatures are gathered, Johnson will then verify said signatures. She will have 15 days to do so, and if enough signatures are verified and valid, she will notify the governing body, Mayor Erickson and the City Council.
They will have 21 days to order an election on the first available date. This date must be within 50 days of their notification, and fall on the first Tuesday after the second Monday in a month. Depending on the speed with which these progress points are reached, the election could fall on either October 14 or November 11. If not enough signatures are gathered by September 9, or not enough signatures are valid, the petition dies with no further action.
