Estes recall attempt fails

The effort to recall Councilman Joe Estes has failed. The Pinal County Recorders office validated only 48 of the 54 signatures submitted; 53 valid signatures were required to put the measure on the ballot.

“As a citizen, I’m disappointed they did not get enough signatures,” Kathy Hall, a Maricopa resident and editor of the Maricopa Monitor, said. “I wish they would have had enough signatures to send it to the voters.”

When the signatures were submitted Dec. 5 (click to read “Petition to recall Estes filed“), Estes said, “The biggest frustration of the whole thing for me is contained in the very first signature block,” referring to Hall, who was first to sign the petition on Aug. 6.

Hall has written several controversial articles about Estes, articles the councilman called “slanted.”

“She has come out in public and said everyone on Council should be gone, and her stories reflect that,” Estes said.

Hall was one of many influential community members who signed the petition, including several elected officials.

Carl Diedrich, an elected member of the since-disbanded Maricopa Fire Board and a candidate for a seat along side Estes on the Maricopa City Council, signed the recall petition. Kimberly Diedrich, Carl’s wife, also signed.

“I thought there was enough there to send it to the voters,” Carl Diedrich said, citing reports that Estes allegedly promoting his own business interests during a city-sponsored trip and circumventing the planning process at city hall.

A current member of the Maricopa Unified School District Governing Board, Shannon Johns, signed the petition as did Michael Murriett, a former member of the board.

Nancy Smith, wife of mayoral candidate Anthony Smith, signed the petition.

So did the vice president of the Maricopa Chamber of Commerce, Mark Molus.

Molus, however, said he regretted signing the petition. “I did not vote for him,” he said, “so it wasn’t my issue.”

Even the chairman of the recall committee itself, Jim Gerard, has political ties. Gerard is a member of the city’s Public Safety Committee, a position ironically appointed by the City Council.

“It’s a little disheartening,” Estes said about Gerard’s leadership role in the process. “He never called me. He never asked me a question.”

With the committee submitting only 53 individual signatures – Kimberly Diedrich signed twice – 100 percent of the signatures would have to have been valid (click to read “Estes recall petition signatures face scrutiny and challenge). As a result of the county’s invalidation of some of the signatures, Estes will serve on the Council until his term expires in 2010.

“I’m glad it’s over,” Estes said. “Hopefully people can start focusing on the good things the city is doing instead of the people trying to detract from our work.”