Coulee City recall may move forward

EPHRATA — The people behind the effort to recall Coulee City Mayor Rick Heiberg claim they have enough signatures to move forward.

Jennifer Schwartz, one of the leaders of the effort, said they’ve collected about 100 signatures on their petition. This is about 20 more than they needed to hold the recall election.

She said this in an interview after Grant County Superior Court Judge John Knodell signed his order approving the recall petition on Friday. The judge agreed two of the 11 accusations argued by Schwartz were recallable offenses.

The two offenses were the purchase of a truck for $15,000 without going through the bid process and the destruction of a packet of allegations after a city council meeting. Knodell said during his ruling, he wasn’t determining whether the events happened, but whether they would constitute malfeasance, misfeasance or a violation of oath of office if they did happen.

Heiberg admitted to purchasing the truck, saying he was unaware of the regulations, and denied destroying the packet, saying it was taken away from him.

The mayor is still deciding whether he will appeal Knodell’s decision, he said, adding he has 15 days from the point where the judge signed the order.

“My wife and I have to think about this. We will make up our minds by the end of the week, but at the moment we’re looking at the options,” he said. “Does it make more sense to let them gather the signatures ... There would be a recall election. They would either make it or they wouldn’t ... or do you go to the extra expense, work and effort to challenge it in the Supreme Court.”

Heiberg accused Schwartz of collecting signatures before she was supposed to. She denied the claim, saying she could collect them starting when Knodell announced his decision.

“We’re going to wait until after the end of the week as a courtesy,” she said. “He’s going out one way or the other ... We would have more signatures, but some people just are afraid of retaliation ... They have told us we do have their vote for the recall, but they’re just afraid to sign the petition.”

Once the Grant County auditor confirms the signatures on the petition, he will need to schedule an election on the recall 45 to 60 days later.