Christensen blames union for number of voters signed

Two Sedona Fire District Governing Board members are one step closer to facing a recall election by the March election.

In mid-August, Caroline Johnson and Karen Schmitt, who are spearheading the recall of Don Harr and Charles Christensen, turned in over 2,000 signatures apiece.

Based on the number of voters in last November’s election, when the men were voted to the board, 1,799 signatures were required for each to go on the ballot.

“I’m happy with the number we got,” Johnson said with 2,168 signatures for Christensen and 2,205 for Harr. “It’s 20 percent more than needed.”

On Nov. 4, 2008, Christensen was the top vote getter to fill two seats on SFD’s board, with 3,194 votes. Harr received 2,729 votes.

The recall effort isn’t about the few residents that initiated it, Christensen said, it’s really an effort by the firefighter’s union.

“They brought in over 100 union members from throughout the state to go door to door, house to house, business to business, parking lot to parking lot to collect signatures,” Christensen said.

It’s true that off-duty firefighters helped the effort, Johnson said, but it was not their cause.

In fact, Johnson had never talked to a firefighter until after she’d pulled the petitions, she said, which were toted around town by nearly 20 people, including some that voted for the men in November.

According to Johnson, many people who voted for the two signed the recall petition this summer.

The women turned the signatures in to Yavapai County Elections Department on Aug. 25.

With recall signatures, the department has 10 days to make sure each petition is filled out correctly. On Friday, Aug. 28, Yavapai County Elections Department spent five hours on one petition and had to pull some sheets that weren’t submitted correctly, cutting the number of signatures, Elections Director Lynn Constabile said.

After checking the content, if there are still enough signatures, the department will send the petitions to the voter registration departments of Yavapai and Coconino counties. Voter registration then has 60 days to verify that each person who signed is a registered voter in the fire district.

According to Constabile, the recall may make it in time for the March or May election, depending on when the counties get back to her with the official number of valid signatures.

If the signatures are good and Harr and Christensen don’t resign, the fire

district will have to pay roughly $21,000 for the election.

Elections cost $1.75 for every registered voter in the district. Currently there are 10,036 registered voters in the district in Yavapai County and 2,325 voters in Coconino County.

Although they may have to wait until November to know if it’s a go, Johnson said there are candidates that would step forward at that time to run against the men.

“We don’t want to campaign prematurely,” she said. “They still could resign.”

Recall packets were pulled from the county in June, six months after the men were seated, and one month after the Arizona Attorney General’s Office reported Harr and Christensen violated open meeting laws once and other violations were “strongly suspected.”

Johnson started the recall campaign after attending her first SFD board meeting.

“I’ve never seen meetings so poorly run,” she said, noting she was embarrassed to have the men represent the district.

In a 200-word document submitted to Yavapai County, the recall committee accused both men of listening to a small “vocal minority” who monetarily

contributed to their election campaign.

It also accuses Christensen of showing poor judgment and abuse of power, stating that he disposed of hazardous materials and home waste into dumpsters at SFD Station

No. 8.

Reasons for Harr’s recall stem from actions the committee

claims don’t match up with his election platform.

“You became the abuser of the system and misappropriated Sedona Fire District’s funds. You repeatedly violated Arizona’s Open Meeting Law,” it stated.

“Elected to make decisions and provide guidance, you have failed to provide even minimal leadership to bring crucial projects to fruition. You misrepresented yourself as an experienced leader and lack integrity in your leadership attempt.”

Alison Ecklund can be reached at 282-7795, ext. 125, or e-mail aecklund@larsonnewspapers.com