Campaign to recall Mayor Walling stalls

The initiative to recall Mayor Dayne Walling is currently suspended after County Clerk Michael Carr found over 700 invalid signatures.

"The recall fever in Flint has broken. We have more important work to do as a community on public safety and economic development," Walling said.

David Davenport filed the recall petition in April, he said, in response to the lay-offs of police officers and fire fighters.

"He made a decision that the budget was more important than people's lives," Davenport said.

Further, Davenport said, he believes Walling has a "separate agenda" to what the residents of Flint want. "Businesses won't come here if the crime rate is so ridiculous. People won't stay here if they feel threatened.

"What is Walling's agenda? Is it a question of running people out of the city and helping the colleges instead? When a college kid can get a job before a tax-paying resident, there is a problem. The only businesses prospering in this city are the ones downtown, and this is not taking care of the city. It's taking care of one area. Historical districts are being looked after, but the rest of the city is suffering."

The recall campaign submitted its petition with 14,341 signatures and 8,267 were verified. A total of 8,004 signatures are needed to get the recall onto the ballot.

In response, Walling filed challenges to the veracity of the signatures. Carr announced Aug. 30 that more than 700 signatures were determined ineligible, temporarily putting an end to the recall effort.

Davenport disputes the clerk's findings.

"The city clerk decided to become a handwriting expert and say this is not his or her signature. So for you to say that, you're calling us forgers and saying you are a handwriting expert. More than 500 signatures were thrown out due to handwriting. If I signed my card 20 years ago, will my handwriting be the same today? People of the city of Flint have been shafted and blindsided by Carr and his cohorts. This is typical politics in the city of Flint," he said.

In response to Carr's decision, Davenport filed a lawsuit in circuit court claiming that Walling did not file the challenge himself and thus missed the challenge deadline.

"The decision to throw out signatures should not be valid because it was not done by Walling," Davenport said, who said the challenge was filed by Brian Bates.

Judge Geoffrey Neithercut was to rule on Carr's decision Sept. 3. But Sept. 3, Neithercut announced that Carr's attorney had filed a motion to have the case moved to federal court because Davenport and the recall effort are claiming their constitutional rights were violated, according to a Flint Journal article.

Davenport still hopes to see the recall on the November ballot.

If Walling is recalled, Davenport said he would strongly consider running for mayor.

But Walling said he sees no chance of this. Brian Bates, he explained, is the official records keeper for Friends of Dayne Walling, "who appropriately acts on my behalf." The mayor used the analogy of a lawyer filing a lawsuit on his client's behalf — it is not invalid because the individual does not do it himself. He does not expect the judge to overturn the clerk's decision.

Further, Walling said, there are "wild claims" in the document presented by Davenport's group.

"Some of the signatures collected were from Flushing addresses, for instance. This document is claiming these people are being disenfranchised," he said.

"I may file additional legal challenges because many signatures still being qualified may have been forged or collected through misinterpretation and fraud," he said.

The mayor said that the recall effort was the action of "a few disgruntled individuals," and did not reflect the feelings of Flint's majority.

"The recall effort does not have community support," Walling said. "Most of the signatures were from out of the city, unregistered individuals and duplicates. Flint's citizens, even with petitioners being paid for signatures, were not behind this effort."

If Davenport's efforts were successful, Walling would be the third successive Flint mayor to be recalled or to resign while a serious recall campaign was underway. Don Williamson resigned during recall efforts against him in 2009 and Woodrow Stanley was recalled in 2002.

Paul Rozycki, a Mott Community College political science professor, said the string of recalls campaigns are not helping Flint.

"The recall was designed in the early 20th century to remove corrupt officials — not just someone you disagree with. The best recall is the election system. If you don't like someone, vote them out," he said.

Rozycki said the prevalence of recall attempts makes for more timid politicians afraid of making unpopular decisions.

"Whether or not you like what Walling has done," Rozycki said, "it diverts energy. When he has to fight to keep his job he is pulled away from the work that needs to be done."

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