September, 1, 2015
Mayor Rivera’s Response Posted 9/2/15
Lawrence Police Officer William Green told The Valley Patriot early Tuesday morning that an affidavit will be filed with the Lawrence Election Department Wednesday at 1pm calling for a recall petition against Lawrence Mayor Dan Rivera.
Among the reasons listed on the affidavit, Rivera is accused of political retaliation against city employees, failing to reopen a foot bridge in south Lawrence, failing to reopen fire stations on both Ames Street and Bailey St., breaking campaign promises to appoint a search committee to recommend candidates for the position of chief of police, violating the civil rights of appointed city personnel by terminating them without due process and a fair hearing, and “the mayor is opposed to the TRUST Act because of his stated intent to use deportation threats as a means to coerce and intimidate members of the community during encounters and interaction with Lawrence Police.”
If enough signatures are collected to hold a recall election against Rivera, voters will be asked a yes or no question on recalling the mayor, those who vote YES on that question will be able to vote for one of the declared candidates to replace him. There is no runoff election, meaning that if there are a dozen candidates declared for mayor to replace Rivera and the first question wins, his replacement would only need a handful of votes to be the next mayor.