ELYRIA — The two founders of Stand Up Elyria, the group hoping to unseat Mayor Bill Grace with a recall election, took the first step toward achieving their goal Tuesday by hand-delivering dozens of petitions to the Clerk of Council’s office.

The petitions contained the signatures of 2,630 people gathered in the last year and were hand delivered by co-founders Craig Bevan and Kim Ach.

Clerk of Council Assistant Nell Fife accepted the petitions and went through the task of time-stamping and copying each sheet.

From there, Fife took the petitions to deputy auditor John Farrell, who hand-counted each name to verify the total number of signatures. Bevan and Ach originally told city officials they collected 2,640 signatures. Farrell later counted 2,630.

The group, made up of vocal residents who are not afraid to share their displeasure with the mayor’s performance, needed 2,267 signatures, which represents 25 percent of the electorate that voted in the last general election.

The city will forward the petitions to the Lorain County Board of Elections, which will certify each to ensure all the names are of registered voters. If the petitions are deemed valid, they will be returned to City Council, which will by law tell Grace he has five days to resign or a special election will be held to determine whether he should be recalled.

City Auditor Ted Pileski said the city will have to pay the $50,000 bill for a special election if it is needed. The money will come from the city’s 2010 property tax distribution received from the county. Any money owed to the Board of Elections will be withheld from the roughly $1 million the city receives each year.

Bevan said the group went for more signatures than needed to show Grace they were serious.

“This is about Elyria,” he said. “We love Elyria and care about it. That’s why we are doing this.”

Grace walked into City Hall on Tuesday moments after Bevan and Ach arrived. He said he was surprised to learn his critics were in the building.

When asked if he would resign, Grace said he has no plans to do so. He characterized the efforts of Bevan and Ach as more personal than political.

“It comes down to personality between us, and they don’t care for me,” he said. “So they have found this piece of law that calls for a recall. But you are going to have 40 to 45 percent of people that don’t agree with their elected leaders even in good times.”

Bevan and Ach, however, said their efforts to oust Grace aren’t personal. Instead, they say the mayor has mismanaged the Fire and Police departments and spent excessively in a time of financial uncertainty.

Grace is not the only Ohio mayor to face the threat of recall.

The Richland County Board of Elections just stopped the recall efforts of a Mansfield woman who gathered signatures in an effort to oust Mansfield Mayor Don Culliver in November. Backed by a local Mansfield lawyer, the recall issue was pulled from the ballot after it was determined the petitions were not valid under state law.

Also, a legal snafu with petitions in Toledo stopped the recall election of Toledo Mayor Carty Finkbeiner.

Akron residents were successful in their bid for a recall election of longtime Akron Mayor Don Plusquellic.

However, Plusquellic survived the vote in June with an overwhelming majority in his favor.

Grace said he believes he, too, would emerge victorious if the recall effort reaches an election.

“Mayor Plusquellic and the citizens of Akron show it’s one thing to place such a measure on a ballot, but it’s another thing to overturn an election that has happened two years ago,” he said. “I think if asked, I will be able to prove in the 10 years I’ve been mayor, I have put the city’s interest above mine every time.”

Contact Lisa Roberson at 329-7121 or lroberson@chroniclet.com.