Houston recall voting ends at 8 p.m.

HOUSTON — If you’ve got an opinion on whether mayor Virgie Thompson should retain her position, you need to get to city hall by the end of the day today.

Houston City Clerk Michelle DeLong said polls for the recall election close at 8 p.m., and Thompson will learn her likely fate soon after when the votes are tallied.

“I should have preliminary results probably shortly after the polls close,” DeLong said.

As of Monday, she said, about 40 ballots had been submitted during the early voting period.

Thompson’s recall is just one in a long series of Houston recall elections stretching at least as far back as then-mayor Dale Adams, who faced a recall attempt in 2006, though that effort did not make it to the ballot box.

His successor, Steve Frost, resigned citing as reasons a divided and squabbling city council. Frost’s successor, Sandy McDonald, survived a recall attempt. Next up was Roger Purcell who resigned on the eve of an effort to recall him.

The recall petitioners for Purcell cited everything from inadequate investigations into police activity, to improperly creating a public park, to Purcell’s alleged use of overhead lights while piloting a borrowed city police car to Fairbanks.

As for Thompson, recall petitioners allege she was paid for hours she did not work as mayor.

More specifically, the allegation is that the $1,500 she was paid in November 2010 was too much. As mayor, she is required to work 100 hours per month. The alleged overpayment came in November. Her timesheets show her working during a period in that month when she was out of town.

But her supporters on the council say nothing improper has happened and, indeed, the city has never been in better shape.

“I actually think that things at the city are going great, with the exception of the recall,” said councilman Paul Stout.

On his website, www.stout4houston.com/Main/Main, he goes into greater detail.

“Mayor Thompson made a simple mistake on her November timesheet, and admitted it,” Stout writes. “In any event, she still worked her required 100 hours in November.”

As in previous recalls, though, the reasons for submitting the petition to hold the election aren’t the only sources of discontent in Houston. Pro-recall fliers distributed in the city charge Thompson with shutting down the police department, mismanaging city funds by dipping into savings to pay bills, and allowing road service to deteriorate.

The police department has, indeed, ceased operations since Capt. Charley McAnally was terminated earlier this year. Stout says the situation is temporary and the city is seeking grants to hire another officer.

The finances charge warrants its own page on Stout’s site, where he writes that the money was supposed to be part of the operating budget — the budget for regular city expenses — all along. It got put into savings by mistake, putting city finances into a brief period of distress.

The flier, paid for by Recall Virgie Thompson, a group whose main contributors are council members Lance Wilson and Ruth Blanchard and city planning commissioner Ralph Buzard, disagrees.

“Her story about the ‘missing’ $100,000 is an absolute lie. This money was never part of the operating budget, but was, and remains today, in a secure savings account,” the filer reads. “We need an outside audit ASAP!”

As for the roads, Stout writes that they’re just fine.

“The roads are pretty much the same as they’ve always been. More money was spent on road maintenance this year than last (a fact that can be verified), and next year’s roads budget is the highest it has ever been,” according to his website.

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