An effort to recall District 7 City Councilman Chris Anderson is still going slow.
Charlie Wysong, who is heading the effort, said the group should have enough names to turn in soon to up the total to around 400. However, 1,600 are needed.
At a meeting of the Election Commission on Wednesday morning, County Attorney Rheubin Taylor said the group has until April 28 to deliver its names to the election office. Election officials said earlier the names were needed by around April 9.
Mr. Wysong said Wednesday, "The problem is getting the workers. We have another meeting on that for this afternoon."
He added, "Conducting a recall is no picnic. It's a lot of work."
Of the names previously submitted by the group, 249 were validated. Another 195 were tossed out.
Meanwhile, Councilman Anderson’s lawyers said they will wait until the deadline for signatures to pass before taking any further steps in the lawsuit he brought challenging the recall effort and the underlying statute regulating the recall.
The Anderson attorneys held a status conference with Circuit Court Judge Jeff Hollingsworth and the parties to the litigation on Tuesday. Councilman Anderson’s lawyers said they would be holding the request for a temporary restraining order in abeyance pending the Election Commission taking action on the recall.
Attorney Stuart James said at this stage of the case it did not appear that there were enough signatures to present to the Election Commission for certification of recall.
The attorneys agreed that the parties would be given until May 15 to answer the complaint. The only party answering the complaint thus far is the Hamilton County Election Commission.
Attorney James said, “It appears that the recall is moving forward slowly, and signatures, thus far, are insufficient to warrant the Election Commission certifying a recall. if the Commission is presented was sufficient signatures, I will appear at the Election Commission to argue that the certification of the recall is based upon a discriminatory purpose. It has become increasingly obvious that the recall has one purpose: to remove Councilman Anderson because he is gay. We have an extensive record showing the motives of the recall and we will present that record to the Election Commission if they obtain sufficient signatures.”
The next meeting of the Election Commission is May 6 at 7 p.m.