OLD ORCHARD BEACH – A group of residents submitted petitions to the town Tuesday calling for the recall of three of Old Orchard Beach’s seven town councilors.

The group, known as Taxpayers for Truth, was the second committee of residents to submit petitions in the past week seeking to recall town councilors. The recall efforts follow months of contentious meetings and a vote by the council’s four-member majority to oust Town Manager Mark Pearson.

Pearson is now suing the town in an attempt to get his job back.

The petitions submitted Tuesday seek to recall councilors Michael Coleman, Robin Dayton and Robert Quinn, who support Pearson. The town clerk has 10 days to certify that there are enough valid signatures — 815 is the minimum — to force a recall election with an up-or-down vote on each of the councilors.

Last week, a committee submitted petitions to Town Clerk Kim McLaughlin seeking the recall of councilors Sharri MacDonald, Laura Bolduc, Dana Furtado and Linda Mailhot, the councilors who voted in March to oust Pearson. That committee, Recall 4, submitted just shy of 1,000 signatures on each recall petition.

Cari-Lyn Lane, chairwoman of the Taxpayers for Truth committee, did not return phone calls seeking comment Tuesday.

McLaughlin said the second recall committee submitted its petitions just before 4 p.m. Her office has until April 26 to certify signatures for those petitions and until Monday to certify signatures submitted by the first recall committee.

McLaughlin said her office will need to certify about 7,000 signatures from the seven petitions. Each petition averages about 900 signatures, she said. After the petitions are certified, the Town Council has 45 days to schedule the recall vote.

The only other recall attempt in Old Orchard Beach came in 1990. The attempt to recall councilors Norma Baker and F. William Schlatterer failed.

 

Staff Writer Gillian Graham can be contacted at 791-6315 or at:

ggraham@mainetoday.com

Twitter: grahamgillian