Officials: City Charter Outlines Procedural Requirements for Recall
Photo by Eric Ayres Trending
WHEELING - Tuesday night’s meeting of Wheeling City Council was exceptionally quiet when it came to those wishing to be heard, as data center opponents that have packed council chambers during several recent meetings neither signed up to speak nor attended the public session.
Instead, a small handful of frustrated citizens stood outside the City-County Building after the meeting with clipboard in hand to collect signatures on a petition to recall Mayor Denny Magruder. The effort, led by Wheeling business owner Johnny Haught, was launched this past week.
Outspoken opponents of the data center that Silicon Foundation is planning to bring to the former Centre Foundry & Machine Company facility in Warwood and vocal citizens who have protested the city’s action that led to the closure of its homeless encampment are not being represented by the current city council, Haught indicated.
"We’re done talking in there - they’ve proven time and time again that they aren’t listening to us," he said Tuesday night.
Haught vowed this past week to begin gathering signatures for a recall, starting at the top with the mayor. He also indicated that he and others plan to continue the process "one-by-one" to recall other council members who they believe are not representing the will of the people they serve.
On Tuesday, Wheeling City Manager Robert Herron noted that the recall process is spelled out in Wheeling’s city charter. Any member of council - including the mayor - may be removed from office through this procedure.
The West Virginia Secretary of State’s Office also noted that this process is one that is strictly handled on the local level.
"The Secretary of State's Office provides guidance regarding election administration," said W.Va. Secretary of State General Counsel David Cook. "But Chapter 8, the municipal code, is outside the jurisdiction of the Secretary of State. The recall petition requirements, the responsibility for a special election, and any notice requirements are all based on the Wheeling charter and any ordinances adopted by the governing body."
State law outlines that at least 20% of qualified voters in a charter city must sign a petition that states the grounds for which removal is sought in order for the recall process to move forward. However, Wheeling’s charter states that the signature threshold for such a petition requires only 10% of the qualified voters in the city. Haught has said he estimated this to be about 1,770 voters.
Once the petition is filled out and filed with City Clerk Jessica Holloway, she must examine and certify that each name on the petition is actually from a qualified voter. The charter also cites specifications for these petition requirements. An affidavit from the circulator of the petition must be provided, stating that "each signature was made in the circulator’s presence on the date specified and that each is the genuine signature of the person whose name it purports to be." In cases requiring signatures of qualified voters, the affidavit must also state that each person is to the best of the circulator’s knowledge and belief a qualified voter of the city of Wheeling.
The clerk can certify that the petition is in good form and submit it to city council or she must state in writing the defect or defects that make it insufficient for submission. If it is returned to the city clerk within 10 days thereafter and is found to meet all requirements, the clerk is to forward the petition to council.
"The council may allow the city clerk such reasonable sum as may be necessary to secure any additional help required to assist in the examination of any petition or petitions, or the city manager may be directed to assign to the city clerk competent city employees for such purpose," the charter states.
If all of those requirements for a recall petition are met, council will order and fix a date for holding a special recall election, not less than 30 days nor more than 50 days from the date of the clerk’s certification. Council must publish notice of the election once a week for three successive weeks in two newspapers of general circulation in the city. The ballot for such a recall election must give voters the option to vote either for or against the removal of the elected official.
If a majority of votes cast are in favor of recalling the council member, the member must forfeit the council seat. Members of city council would then at its next meeting following the recall election appoint a successor to fill the unexpired term of that office.
Suspension of a council member may take place before a recall election if enough signatures are obtained on the petition.
"If a recall petition bears the signatures of 5,000 qualified voters of the city when certified to council, the member of council named therein shall be suspended from office pending the result of the recall election," the charter states, adding that "no recall petition shall be filed within 90 days succeeding or preceding any regular council election," which are typically held in May.
The next municipal election in Wheeling will take place in 2028.
Magruder was elected in 2024 after earning victory in a six-way mayoral race.
On Tuesday night outside of the City-County Building after the council meeting, Wheeling resident Polly Barks - one of a number of Warwood residents who have filed a lawsuit against the Silicon Foundation in an effort to halt the development of the data center - was on hand with Haught with the recall petition.
Barks was part of a group that conducted a survey over the past two weeks regarding public opinion of the city council members halfway through the current term. Copies of the Wheeling City Council Half-Term Performance Review was provided to city council members before Tuesday night’s meeting, but no presentation about the survey took place.
The anonymous survey of residents in each ward found that overall council satisfaction scores averaged around 3.73 out of 10, and the average satisfaction scores for the mayor came in at around 2.75 out of 10.
Quotes from the survey were posted on signs placed outside the City-County Building following Tuesday’s council meeting, with comments such as "I think the mayor is focused on photo ops and not much else" and "You’re our employees. We hired you."