Recall efforts underway against members
Dacono residents may hear a knock on their door this weekend and be asked to sign recall petitions against two city councilmembers — Jackie Thomas and Jim Turini.
The two city officials, along with Mayor Pro Tem Kathryn Wittman and Councilman Danny Long, voted to abruptly fire former Dacono City Manager A.J. Euckert during the Feb. 13 City Council meeting.
The four councilmembers have offered no public explanation as to why they terminated Euckert, which has led to mounting frustration among several community members.
“We are letting … City Council and the citizens of Dacono know this will not be tolerated or accepted,” Rick Gerk, who is helping lead the recall efforts, said in an interview Thursday. “We demand a more thoughtful and considerate … council.”
A recall petition was not pulled for Long because he was reelected in November 2022.
An elected official may not be recalled until they have served at least six months in office, per state statute.
Wittman’s term is up in November, which is why a recall petition was not pulled for her, Gerk said.
Long previously declined to comment and Wittman and Turini have not returned multiple requests for comment.
“I was disappointed to see this Recall action taken by some Dacono citizens. I was not contacted directly to discuss the reasons for my vote,” Thomas said in a written statement issued Friday. “I have several months ago arrived at the decision that the City Manager’s vision for the City was not consistent with the feedback that I continually receive from both Dacono businesses and Dacono individuals; consensus was that we needed a change.”
Megan Thornam, another Dacono resident who is leading the charge to have Thomas and
Long recalled, said that petitions were approved to form by the city on Tuesday, printed out on Wednesday and that numerous volunteers plan to circulate them beginning this weekend.
The recall petitions allege that during the Feb. 13 City Council meeting Thomas and Turini “both alone and in concert with others, intentionally withheld information … by not providing timely and full disclosure of potential agenda information; in violation of the Open Meetings Law.”
Euckert’s possible firing was not mentioned in any of the pre-published materials for the City Council’s Feb. 13 meeting.
“Dacono citizens want to see a growing and vibrant community that includes existing businesses, new businesses, and neighborhoods that desire to grow and expand — to then be allowed to grow and expand,” Thomas said in her statement.
In order to force a recall election, Gerk, Thornam and others must collect 189 signatures from registered voters in Dacono on both of the petitions.
The 189 amount is 25% of the total votes cast in the last city election involving Thomas and Turini (1,508 votes) divided by the number of councilmembers elected, which was two, in 2021.
No signature on a recall petition will be valid if signed more than 30 days before the petition is filed with the city clerk, according to the city’s municipal code.
“We as citizens of Dacono deserve better representation,” Gerk said.