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In a democracy like the United States, a small group of engaged voters can benefit from a major public debate, and sometimes change, through election petitions.
Nixa voters will have the opportunity to recall Mayor Brian Steele in a special election slated for Nov. 2, County Clerk Christian Kay Brown confirmed this week after a handful of citizens took action.
On Monday, the Nixa, Missouri Mayor’s Recall Committee submitted a recall petition to the city of Nixa with 97 signatures, of which 73 were found to be valid registered voters living within city limits. by the clerk’s office, under rules that call for a certain number of signatures equal to at least 10% of the votes cast in the last mayoral election, Brown said.
The minimum number of signatures needed this year to trigger a recall vote in the city of more than 21,000 people is only 67 signatures, Brown said. The cost of the recall election, which will be borne from the city of Nixa’s coffers, will likely be $ 10,000 to $ 15,000, Brown told the News-Leader.
Previously:Nixa’s emergency mask tenure ends April 30
The recall petition committee opposes COVID-19 security measures, including public masking. The petition says Steele should be recalled for “individually and without regard to the citizens of Nixa, nor to the vote of the city council, enacting a mask mandate and taking other measures detrimental to the city of Nixa, its economy, health and well-being of the community in general. “
But Nixa City Council approved two ordinances in March 2020 delegating emergency powers to the city’s mayor to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a schedule of measures indicated on the city’s website.
Meanwhile, Nixa hasn’t needed masks for over two months. Steele ended Nixa’s mask tenure on April 30 after promulgating it on October 21 along with its counterpart in Christian County’s other major city, Ozark, as the News-Leader reported earlier.
The mayor reacts: “This is what it is”
In an interview with the News-Leader on Friday, Steele admitted that he did not envision this type of political controversy when he took up the post of mayor in 2014.
“It is what it is,” he told the News-Leader.
Steele rebuffed the committee’s claims, such as one made in a Facebook post on June 8, that pandemic security measures “would destroy” Nixa’s economy.
“Now that is definitely not true,†Steele said. “We have had a booming economy in our region for a long time.
Steele said sales tax collections within Nixa city limits increased 14% in 2020 from 2019, despite pandemic disruptions, and that so far this year the tax sales was up 10%.
“We have new businesses coming in and opening up, people are always moving here,†Steele said.
The mayor said he had received “dozens” of emails, calls and messages of support on social media this week as the petition to recall him gained momentum. He noted that his decision to put in place a public masking measure was taken in coordination with the Ozark municipal government, the Christian County Health Department and other regional health experts.
Recall contributors “want to make it seem like this was a one-time choice that I made on my own, somehow illegally or unethically, but it’s definitely not the case, â€Steele explained.
The News-Leader on Friday asked for comments from several people listed as signature collectors on the committee’s recall petition forms – including Ronald D. Sanders II, Jana K. Aven, Kimberly S. Stahler, Jeff Belcher and Andy R. Davis – but the newspaper has yet to receive a response.
Christian County’s new COVID case rate seven times higher than in the United States
COVID-19 remains a serious threat in Christian County as in other parts of Missouri, which has made national headlines as a COVID hotspot in the United States in recent weeks.
The county’s rate of new cases per day per 100,000, 29, is almost double Missouri’s rate of 15 and more than seven times the U.S. rate of four new cases per day per 100,000, according to data released by the New York Times Friday.
COVID-19 cases in Christian County have increased 78% in the past two weeks, the Times reported.
Contact News-Leader reporter Gregory Holman by sending an email to gholman@gannett.com. Please consider subscribing to support vital local journalism.
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