Recalls of the city of Maumee’s mayor and six city councilmen are headed to the ballot.
On Tuesday, the Lucas County Board of Elections voted unanimously to certify the petitions. The recalls will be on the Sept. 9 primary ballot.
Mayor James MacDonald and Councilmen Gabriel Barrow, Jonathan Fiscus, Joshua Harris, Ted Kurt, Scott Noonan, and Margo Puffenberger are at risk of being recalled. The elected officials have five days from Tuesday to resign. The only councilman that is not being recalled is Philip Leinbach.
Heading into the Tuesday meeting, Amy Pauken, who helped circulate petitions, posted on Facebook that six of the seven petitions had the wrong date.
“I watched the petitioner sign, and the first one 11/18/24 was dated correctly,” she wrote. “I totally missed the petitioner making the mistake and putting 10/18/24 as the date on the other 6. I take full responsibility for this.”
Petitioners have 90 days to gather signatures and turn them into the Board of Elections. The petitions were filed on Feb. 6.
During the meeting, the board reviewed each petition and allowed five minutes from each side to present its case. It was not a formal hearing.
The wrong dates were highlighted by Glenn Rambo, who spoke against the petitions. Mr. Rambo was one of three people, along with Benjamin Heywood and Jim Stengle, who sent a letter asking the board to reject the petitions ahead of Tuesday’s meeting.
“The first signature on six of the seven petitions, there’s a date of October 18, 2024,” he said. “That is more than 90 days from the time that petitions were filed with this board. So under that one sentence of the statute on which the petitioners rely, the petitions are invalid on their face.”
Mr. Rambo also pointed out that the petitions, including the general statement, are over the 200-word maximum and argued that there are no provisions in the city’s charter or under the Ohio Constitution that allow a Maumee elected official to be recalled.
Donald Brey countered Mr. Rambo’s argument on behalf of the petitioners. He said the procedure for a recall refers back to Ohio Revised Code 705.92 that gives charter cities the right to enable a recall election. Mr. Brey said excluding the heading, the petition is within the 200 word limit, and six affidavits were filed with the Board of Elections proving that the petitions were circulated within 90 days.
“The grounds for rejection that had been filed last Thursday lack merit,” Mr. Brey said “If there are enough signatures, I would encourage the board to certify this to the ballot.”
After a 20-minute executive session, the board came back and voted to let the citizens decide.
Fritz Schoen, the chairman of the board, said in the past 18 hours, the circulators have proved that the petitions were circulated within the 90 days allowed.
“We don’t want to be technical as far as throwing out people’s voices based on someone making a mistake,” Mr. Schoen said.
After the vote, the board of elections encouraged the future city council, regardless of the recall, to consider changing the charter and moving away from a September primary. Maumee City Council cannot change the charter on its own; it would have to go to a vote of the people.
It’s also going to come at an expensive cost.
“Likely, the citizens of Maumee are going to have to pay somewhere in the neighborhood of $100,000 for this election because it’s out of step with everybody else’s, and we’re going to have to create special ballots that will increase the cost, potentially in special databases that may increase the cost,” board member Kurt Young said. “We don’t like doing that. We want to voters to get their say and not have the city pay for this kind of thing.”
Councilman Kurt said after the meeting that the estimate seemed high, but Nancy Gagnet, the public information officer for Maumee, said the board would have the “best estimate as they run the election and invoice the city.”
Opponents can protest the board’s decision, which would result in a formal hearing with the board. Both groups would have the opportunity to state their case again. They would have to do it within 74 days of the election.
After the meeting, Mr. Rambo said there is a chance they would protest the decision.
“There’s a chance the sun will rise tomorrow and the chance the sun won’t rise,” he said. “There’s always a chance.”
Mr. Brey said he was surprised by the board’s decision and wouldn’t be surprised if opponents protested the decision. He added that he was upset to hear how much this election will cost the city.
“I think that it’s unfortunate that the city’s founding fathers, who have had the opportunity to change this for a long time, have done nothing to save this $100,000 by changing the September date to another date,” he said. “I’m confident that if they are replaced by people who have the concern for the citizens at heart, this will be taken care of.”
After the meeting, Ms. Puffenberger said she would not be resigning because she feels that she did nothing wrong.
“I am not against citizens being able to vote for/against a person/matter on the ballot,” she said. “I am not opposed to a citizen exercising the democratic right to vote for a candidate or issue. I support and encourage that. However, I am against misinformation and fear being used to get votes. I believe the opportunity to vote should happen during a regular election unless an elected official has committed a criminal act. I believe it is reckless for a community to recall 7 of 8 elected officials for the sole purpose of firing the city administrator.”
In a statement, Mayor MacDonald said the board’s decision will not impact his service to the city.
“While today’s action by the Board of Elections is disappointing, my commitment to serving the people of this city, as I was elected to do, remains strong,” he wrote. “I truly believe that we have made significant progress together in resolving critical challenges while also creating new opportunities, and I will continue to do everything in my power to meet the needs of the citizens of Maumee while moving our city forward.”
Mr. Harris said he wasn’t surprised by the board’s decision on Tuesday, adding that he was not going to resign.
“It’s what I expected to happen,” Mr. Harris said. “We’ll see what happens in September, but I’m going to continue to serve the community.”
Mr. Kurt said he hoped the board would have decided differently but expects the decision to be challenged.
After the meeting, he told Mr. Schoen “don’t bother licking the stamp” because he is not resigning. If Mr. Kurt stays on council, he said he would consider looking at moving the city’s primary elections out of September to avoid the significant cost to the city.
“We did not initiate this thing,” Mr. Kurt said, saying council isn’t to blame for the price. “We did not start this fight.”
The Blade reached out to Mr. Barrow and Mr. Noonan, who did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Mr. Fiscus declined to comment.
Each September ballot for Maumee residents will have a question asking if the individual should be recalled. The subsequent questions will ask who should fill their space based on certified candidates who file with the Board of Elections. That individual will serve out the rest of the term.
For four of the councilmen, that term ends on Dec. 31. Ms. Puffenberger, Mr. Harris, Mr. Fiscus, and Mr. Leinbach are all up for re-election in September. It is possible for them to be recalled and still run for a separate office in the September primary for November’s ballot.
Mr. Kurt, Mr. Barrow, Mr. Noonan, and Mr. MacDonald will be up for re-election in 2027.
First Published March 4, 2025, 5:51 p.m.
