HOWELL – If there is a special mayoral election resulting from the recall of Mayor Joseph M. DiBella, taxpayers will foot a $56,830 tab. And for more than one reason, the mayor is not happy.
In perhaps the most intriguing portion of an otherwise static April 19 Township Council special budget meeting, the council members inquired about an additional $56,830 in postage fees that were placed into the 2006 budget by Chief Financial Officer Jeffrey Filiatreault.
Originally thought to be a mistake or a number reached by combining all forms of postage, Filiatreault advised the council the additional funds are being appropriated in case of the recall of DiBella.
The cost would be for certified letters to be sent to every household in Howell. The letters would inform residents that a special election would be held.
The recall effort, initiated by residents John Pearson, Joseph Parente and How-ard Malsbury, filed a petition in hopes of holding a special election to oust DiBella, whose term is scheduled to end on Dec. 31, 2008. In order to force a recall vote, the petition would require the signatures of 25 percent (approximately 7,773) of Howell’s registered voters.
The petition was certified on Feb. 27 by Township Clerk Bruce Davis. In a memo, Davis said the final petition with signatures would need to be validated and certified by his office no later than 160 days after the Feb. 27 certification.
Pearson said about 50 percent of residents approached for their signature have signed. In his estimation, 1,500 to 1,700 signatures have been obtained thus far.
He added, “we’re still getting more people to carry the petitions,” but admitted, “we’re probably a little bit behind where we should be. It’s not going to be easy, but I think this will happen.”
During the budget meeting, after Filiatreault explained the need for the extra postage appropriation, DiBella slammed his gavel, put the meeting into recess and left the dais.
After the mayor returned, he initially moved past the issue, but returned to the topic shortly thereafter.
When Councilwoman Cynthia Scho-maker said, “I don’t think there’s anything we can do at this point,” DiBella looked for input from the rest of the council members.
After no one came to his aid, DiBella quipped, “I appreciate your support, guys, thanks.”
Then, the mayor asked why the appropriation needed to be made in the first place.
Filiatreault explained, saying, “we would be hard-pressed to justify an emergency at the time of the election, since we already know about this ahead of time. We have a statutory obligation to appropriate funds for anything that is already in progress.”
“This is an absolute and utter disgrace,” DiBella said. “These three disingenuous people continue this political fraud; God forbid [the recall proceeds] in this budget crisis. They should be ashamed of themselves.”
– Larry Hlavenka Jr.