Houston council turmoil continues with recall effort

MAT-SU — February is shaping up to be an interesting month for Houston.

Thursday, Tammy Bennett, daughter of former mayor Dale Adams, filed an application for a petition to recall Acting Mayor Sandy McDonald and Councilman Roger Purcell. The petition comes as the council prepares for a March 6 meeting where it will fill the seat vacated by former mayor Steve Frost, who resigned Feb. 14. In Houston, the mayor is chosen by the council from among its ranks.

McDonald said she couldn’t speak to the petition.

“When it comes to recall, then it is really a clerk who takes the recall petition,” McDonald said.

Citing Houston city codes, McDonald said the application will be reviewed and, if found to be complete, Bennett will be handed a recall petition. Bennett will then have to gather a number of signatures equal to one-quarter the number of people who voted in the last election.

Acting clerk Debbie Fites said Thursday she has been reviewing the petition with the city’s attorney.

Bennett filed four applications for recall petitions, two for Purcell and two for McDonald. The applications cited two reasons for recall — that McDonald and Purcell called a public meeting without proper notice and that McDonald allowed Purcell access to confidential personnel records.

Each application contained 13 signatures from Houston residents.

At last week’s Houston City Council meeting, Bennett asked council for copies of tape recordings made at meetings she alleges were illegally held. In her application, she says decisions were made regarding a “controversial public parks plan.”

Last week, she said the park is near her house.

“There is no way in hell it’s going on with me in the area,” Bennett said at the meeting.

In December 2006, Purcell helped lead an effort to recall Adams. That application cited Adams’ alleged failure to properly administer the city’s tiny police department, something Adams denied at the time. The effort failed after the application was deemed incomplete.

Purcell eventually went on to unseat Adams when he was elected in to the council in October.

Contact Andrew Wellner at andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com or 352-2270.