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BACKGROUND

It all started in 2015 when a group of residents who called themselves Framingham First collected enough signatures to get a ballot initiative in the next election.

In March of 2016, seventy five percent of voters approved the creation of a Charter commission, and nine charter commission members were elected.

The charter commission team worked from March 29th 2016 to April 4th 2017, to create a charter.

A charter is a document that sets up and organizes an organization, in our case, the government of Framingham. Think of it like Framingham’s constitution. Their completed document, the Framingham Home Rule Charter.

In the course of the year that the charter commission met, they spent time studying other cities, what worked for them, and what didn’t. They tried to plan for any hypothetical issues that might come up, and wrote it into the charter.

Knowing that their charter wouldn’t be perfect, and that issues would arise once activated, written into it were provisions allowing review and editing after 5 years and every 10 years after that.

In the late winter of 2017, all households were mailed a copy of the city charter to review, as the town vs city question was to be on the April 4th election ballot. A yes vote would give the charter document life, and the town would become a city on the first day of 2018. A no vote would be for keeping Framingham’s town form of government.  The initiate passed, and the town began preparing to transition to the city.

Special elections were held overt the spring and fall, and the makeup of the city council and who the mayor would be had been determined. Yvonne Spicer won over Stefanini, at a 9000-6000 margin.

We are through our third year with Mayor Spicer, and until recently, while people have not been happy with the way things have gone, they couldn’t put their finger on the root cause…. Until now.

With the release of text messages by the Mayor and her Chief Operating Officer, during meetings of the City Council, the elected legislative branch, the issue is clear. The mayor has no interest in working with the City Council. The councilors who oppose her, she calls Assholes and Morons. Councilors she has been friendly with, who she has used to push her policy, behind their back she calls them disappointments.

When the mayor herself disappoints the residents of the city, people often ask, “can we just go back to being a town?” While that would require all sorts of hoops to be jumped through, ballot questions, a new charter commission, and new elections, wouldn’t it just be easier to replace the mayor?

Have no fear, our charter commission considered buyer’s remorse when it came to electing a mayor, and there is a cure-all written right into the city charter. The Charter includes features called “citizen relief” measures to overturn decisions made by the City Council, Mayor or school committee. However, it’s not just decisions that can be undone. In the Framingham Home Rule Charter, under Article 8: Citizen Participation Measures is Section 7… Recall Elections. Here it states that any person holding an elected municipal office may be recalled from that office by the voters under the procedures made available in this section.

First, we need 400 residents who are registered to vote, who are unhappy enough to sign on the dotted line demanding a change. This is what we call the Recall Affidavit. From each of the voting districts, one through nine, there must be at least twenty-five signatories.

The Recall Affidavit must include a statement of the grounds for recall. Lets take a few moments and explore possible grounds for recalling the mayor. Yvonne Spicer has not left us any shortage of reasons as grounds for recall. For example:

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In the November 11th, Metro west Daily News article titled “Rift between Framingham Mayor Yvonne Spicer and City Council clear in now public texts“, Christine Long city councilor for district one said of the mayor, that “there’s been no intent to work with the Council”. She continued, “I feel that the division is beyond repair at this point”. Perhaps with the public release of the mayor’s private text messages, the relationship between the executive branch and the legislative branch, has become too contentious to function effectively. Could this be the statement of grounds for a recall election. Could the simplest resolution to this impasse be the removal of the mayor?

The next part of this step is time sensitive and requires a lot of work, especially after the election we just had.

Of the 46678 registered voters in Framingham, seventy seven percent turned out to vote in the most recent presidential election, yielding 32217 total votes.

The blanks must be signed by 15 percent of the total voters in the most recent election. Based on voter turnout, 4800 total signatures must be acquired. Had the most recent election not been as contentious as it was, the number of signatures required would have been fewer.

Of the 4800 signatures required, at least one percent of each district’s registered voters must sign.

The reality of it is, that while it’s a big task, it is very possible. Ten people each need to each collect 480 signatures. Standing outside a supermarket, at the commuter rail station, outside of city hall, clipboard in hand, over the course of a couple days each could get their share.

The signatures must all be collected within 30 days and when complete, be returned to the board of registrars of voters. The board of registrars of voters shall within ten days following the date the petition forms are filed certify the number of signatures on them. If the number meets the criteria, it the certified Recall Petition gets sent over to City Council…. And then the real fun begins.

This next step is called the Recall Election. City council will notify the mayor that she either needs to resign within five days or she will face a special election. If it goes to a special election, it will take place within thirty-five to ninety days, and the ballot question will state…

Shall Yvonne Spicer be recalled from the office of Mayor? If a majority of votes are in the negative, then the mayor can serve out her term, and run for re-election if desired. If a majority of the votes cast on the question in the affirmative, the officer shall be deemed recalled, and the office shall be vacant upon the certification of the election results.

For shits and giggles let’s assume that the mayor is in fact recalled, she will have to immediately pack up her office and do the walk of shame home, because her city SUV will immediately no longer be hers to keep.

Depending on what month in 2021 that this all goes down… hypothetically. The city council may convene and order a special election to occur between ninety and one hundred and twenty days out, or if too close to the now vacated mayor’s term’s expiry, the City Council chair, George King could be hoisted into the seat of mayor.

While we at F U are absolutely indifferent on whether this act should be taken up, we have created a Facebook group to ponder the concept, to explore the charter text, and if someone decides that they want to take charge, we will support their effort with our platform and reach.

JOIN OUR FACEBOOK GROUP TO FURTHER EXPLORE THE REMOVAL OF MAYOR, BY RECALL ELEXTION OR BY ENSURING SHE LOSES HER NEXT ELECTION. CLICK HERE