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Republican John Long of Davenport is receiving help in his attempt to recall the four Republican Polk County commissioners who raised taxes for roads, parks and libraries.
Long claims to have 3,000 people volunteering to circulate petitions for the recall.
"The response has just been phenomenal," he said. "I won't make light of the amount of work we have to do, but with this many people offering to circulate petitions, it will be easier."
To put a recall on the ballot is a twopart process. First, supporters need signatures of 5 percent of the registered voters on petitions on which the alleged misdeed for recall is explained. With 301,308 voters in Polk County, supporters of the recall would need 15,065 voter signatures.
After the signatures are certified, each person who is the subject of recall gets to add his or her defense to the petition wording. Then a second petition is circulated that requires signatures from 15 percent of the voters, or 45,196 Polk voters, to get on the ballot.
And recall supporters must circulate a separate petition for each person being recalled.
Long is receiving help from Doug Guetzloe of Orlando, who is chairman of "Ax the Tax," a conservative nonprofit organization bent on stopping tax increases.
Guetzloe advised residents of a longestablished mobile home park in Winter Garden, known as "Trailer City" on how to recall City Commission Bill Thompson.
The residents accused Thompson of violating the state Government in the Sunshine Law in his attempts to close down the older subdivision on which the city owned the land.
Thompson argued that he couldn't very well be the only one singled out because it takes two elected officials to violate the Sunshine Law. But the Circuit Court judge who heard his challenge ruled that the state law regarding recall only requires that the grounds for removal just be alleged. It does not have to be proven.
Despite being a charter county, Polk, like all others in the state, must adhere to state law, which supersedes any local recall law.
The circuit judge's ruling, if not successfully appealed, will figure prominently here in Polk County if recall supporters get enough signatures to put the recall on the ballot.
Polk County Supervisor of Elections Lori Edwards would only be charged with certifying that each signer is indeed a registered voter in the county and would not determine whether the accusations are valid.
Thompson, by the way, was removed from office in a recall vote and Guetzloe said another commissioner was defeated at the polls because of the issue.
"We estimate that it will take people in Polk County about $35,000 to $40,000 to get recall on the ballot," he said. "We are trying to help them, and they also have a lot of people there who are contributing.
"You are not even allowed to form a political committee until the first petition drive is complete, so if that happens then you know it is the will of the people," Guetzloe said.
Long said he is receiving phone calls from people pledging to help with the cost as well as the two petition drives.
Polk County Republican Executive Committee Chairman Eric Allen, while carefully not endorsing the recall as a party official, said that Long's recall campaign does seem to have steam.
Long and Allen said that the errant commissioners are about to drive even more signers into the recall camp. That's because they are expected to vote to lower the new home impact fees for roads on while keeping the property tax on folks already living here.
Commissioner Randy Wilkinson, the only one of the five commissioners to vote against the tax increase, has alleged that his fellow Republicans voted for the tax hike to keep from making developers pay their higher fair share of the impact fees.
Now, argue either way, and bring in the importance of the economy, too, if you like. But with rhetoric like this commissioners have an awful lot of educating to do to blunt the recall fanatics.
So far, they seem to be helping in their own recall.
To quote the admonition given a few weeks ago by Lakeland Civil Service Board members to their director: "Perception does matter."
WANT A JOB?
There will soon be a job opening for chairman of the Polk County Democratic Executive Committee. At their Oct. 10 meeting members of the DEC will formally accept the resignation of Dr. William Kremer as the chairman of the party.
Kremer, a retired Watson Clinic physician, and his wife are planning to relocate to Connecticut to be closer to family.
While they haven't sold their home just yet, Kremer said he wanted to give the party time to get a replacement elected and working for the 2006 elections. He was elected in December to succeed Winter Haven lawyer Mark Kaylor, who left for business reasons.
"Bill has strengthened the party at the club level, which is where the grassroots begin," said Caroll Franklin, a DEC member from Winter Haven. "He has done a lot to rebuild the party from the bottom up."
Ledger Political Editor Bill Rufty can be reached at bill.rufty@theledger.com or 863802-7523
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