Antioch city clerk to remain on job
Recall effort against Householder fails as not enough valid signatures collected
ANTIOCH >> The effort to recall Antioch City Clerk Ellie Householder ended this week after proponents failed to collect the required signatures.
Recall proponents had until Monday to collect 9,521 valid signatures for the recall petition to advance to the ballot. Leaders of the recall did not say how many signatures they collected but only that they had ended their efforts and that “most residents were focused on the petition to recall Mayor Lamar Thorpe,” which also failed last month.
“The primary reason for the Antioch City Clerk recall was to provide an incentive for Clerk Householder to correctly and efficiently handle the processing of the petition for the Recall Antioch Mayor Lamar Thorpe Petition; that objective was eventually achieved,” proponents said in a statement posted to their Recall Ellie Householder City Clerk Facebook page.
Householder made history in Antioch by becoming the first locally elected person to hold two offices — city clerk and school board trustee — and later faced recalls for both. However, in April, proponents opted not to turn in signatures they had collected for the trustee recall once they realized they missed the deadline to place the initiative on the June ballot.
Even so, proponents of both recalls said they “achieved their objective by holding her publicly accountable for her actions.”
The recall proponents had accused the city clerk of slowing down efforts to get the mayor's recall efforts started by responding via certified mail rather than email, taking the full 10 days allowed by law to respond, as well as other actions.
When asked to comment, Householder, who was elected city clerk in 2020, said the recall failure sends a message.
“(It) sends a clear message that bigotry, intolerance and fear of progress will not win out in Antioch,” she said. “I am thankful to Antioch residents for continuing to support my goal of building a more inclusive and accessible City Clerk's Office. I look forward to serving the remainder of my tenure as your city clerk bringing the integrity, respect and empathy residents deserve from that office.”