ELYRIA — The recall election deciding the fate of Mayor Bill Grace will take place on Dec. 22, City Council decided Wednesday night.

All 10 members of City Council who were present voted for the date and there was no discussion of the fact it would be three days before Christmas. Councilman Kevin Krischer, I-5th Ward, was absent.

The earliest the issue could have been put to a vote was Dec. 12, and the latest was Dec. 27, according to the city’s law director, Terry “Pete” Shilling.

Two frequent critics of Grace, Councilmen Mark Craig, I-4th Ward, and Garry Gibbs, R-3rd Ward, said after the meeting they had no problem with the date that was selected.

“The sooner we do the election, the quicker we get it over with,” said Craig, who said he will personally vote to recall Grace.

“We need to get on with it,” Gibbs said, while saying he has not yet decided how he will vote. Gibbs said it is debatable whether a date so close to Christmas would help or hurt the recall effort.

Meanwhile, Council also voted on a resolution supporting Grace in the recall, but failed by one vote to get the necessary eight votes to suspend the rules and pass it as an emergency measure.

The vote was 7 to 3, with Councilman Larry Tanner, D-1st Ward, voting with Craig and Gibbs against suspending the rules.

Those voting to suspend the rules and immediately vote on the resolution were Council members Kenneth Burkhard, D-7th Ward, Victor Stewart, D-at-large, Thomas Callahan, D-at-large, Michael Lotko, D-at-large, Kevin Brubaker, D-at-large, Forrest Bullocks, D-2nd Ward and Donna Mitchell, D-6th Ward.

Before the vote, Craig asked if the grounds for the recall were legally sufficient. The recall petitions listed several reasons for the recall: allegations of failed leadership, financial mismanagement of the state Route 57 project and failure to rein in administrative costs.

Shilling, the law director, said the city charter does not detail what would be sufficient grounds for recall. However, Shilling said interpretation of Ohio law is clear: The reasons for a recall don’t even have to be true for a recall election to take place.

Shilling said Grace could challenge the grounds for recall through court filings, but Grace said after the meeting he has decided to allow the recall to go ahead without a legal challenge.

In addition to questioning whether grounds for the recall were sufficient, Craig also asked a number of questions about the language in the proposed Council resolution supporting Grace.

The resolution recommended to Council by the Rules Committee states that Council “finds the grounds alleged in the recall petition unfounded,” that it is “disruptive to the City to remove the Mayor for no just cause” and that Council opposes the expense to the city for the election estimated at $50,000.

Stewart, who chairs the Rules Committee, said, “The mayor has not committed any crime, any felony, any unjust reason or malfeasance for this recall election and in my opinion he was elected in 2007 by the majority vote. … 2011 is when he runs again if he so chooses and voters have the choice then.”

Stewart called the recall “a blatant waste of taxpayer money” but said Grace’s opponents “did do what is within their right — brought in the signatures that were required under this charter.”

Lorain County Board of Elections Director Jose Candelario said the special election will cost between $36,000 and $52,000, but the final bill won’t be known until after the election is over.

It costs between $900 and $1,300 to operate a precinct, he said, and Elyria has 40 precincts.

Craig said he did not think there was a rush to act immediately on the resolution supporting Grace in the recall, and said he thought Council should “at least” get an opinion about whether considering the resolution was the proper thing to do.
Tanner said he didn’t think Council should be weighing in on the matter.

“It’s not a Council fight — we shouldn’t even be here talking about it,” Tanner said.  After the meeting, Tanner declined to say how he would personally vote on the recall.

The one person who did not say anything about the recall or the proposed Council resolution supporting Grace was Craig Bevan, a retired firefighter and EMT who co-founded Stand Up Elyria — the recall group.

Bevan raised his hand to speak Wednesday night before the Rules Committee forwarded the legislation to Council, but Stewart said he did not see Bevan before the vote was taken.

After the meeting, Bevan said he hopes Council will not pass the resolution supporting Grace.

“My feeling is if you have 3,500 people sign this petition … it should be a non-political issue for the Council members — they shouldn’t be involved,” Bevan said. “Even if it were on my side I wouldn’t want the endorsement because I don’t believe it is fair.”

After 2,267 valid signatures were submitted to the Council clerk, Grace, elected in November 1999 after defeating former Mayor Michael Keys in a primary election, had until Tuesday to resign, based on guidelines spelled out in the City Charter.

After Wednesday’s meeting, Grace said he had decided not to submit any letter or document declining to step down. He said Shilling told him “unless I am stepping down, let the time expire.”

Under the city charter, city Safety-Service Director Chris Eichenlaub would become mayor if Grace is recalled.

Contact Cindy Leise at 329-7245 or cleise@chroniclet.com.