Bad Links?
Other glitches?
Notify Webmaster

Tyrone mayor challenges recall effort

By LEE WILLIAMS
lwilliams@TheCitizenNews.com

Ten dozen residents of the town of Tyrone cleared the first obstacle in their quest to oust Mayor Sheryl Lee from office when they turned in a recall application on Aug. 1 bearing 130 signatures, 121 of which were validated.

But if Lee has her way, the recall effort will die when a judge reviews the matter. Lee has retained the services of Peachtree City attorney Rick Lindsey of Webb, Lindsey and Wade law firm, who promptly filed a petition for sufficiency review in Fayette County Superior Court Aug. 3. A court date has not been set.

A judge outside of the Griffin Judicial Circuit will be called in to hear the case. The judge will set the hearing date, Lindsey indicated.

“The statute dictates that,” he said. “Nobody has a choice. Local judges couldn’t hear it if they wanted to.”

Melissa Hill, a Tyrone resident, is spearheading the effort to remove Lee from office largely because of the tie-breaking vote Lee cast on a controversial John Wieland subdivision dubbed Westhampton and amending the land use map.

Westhampton, which will be located on Ga. Highway 74 South and Kirkley Road, will feature 155 homes on minimum half-acre lots, something that dozens of residents were dead-set against.

Recalling an elected official is generally a three-step process, if no one tries to block the effort.

Getting the recall application signed with at least 100 signatures is the first step. That has been accomplished. The second step is the recall petition, election officials said.

Hill will have to round up signatures from 30 percent or 948 active voters who were registered and eligible to vote in the last election for mayor for the second petition.

The third step is a recall election that will be held in Tyrone, officials said.

But Lindsey suspects the effort will never come to a vote. He and his client expect the issue to be thrown out at the hearing with the judge.

“You can’t recall an elected official because they voted,” said Lindsey, who once served as the city attorney for Peachtree City for 11 years. “It has to be something akin to illegal.”

In an earlier interview, Hill said if the recall effort dies, she hopes it will make Lee think twice before voting for something that will adversely effect the town.

Tyrone, a town of 3,900 residents, is known for its rural character and multi-acre residential lots. Residents fear Westhampton could damage that.