28 Sep 2021 FINAL Press Release, Committee to Recall Couy Griffin

28 Sep 2021 FINAL Press Release, Committee to Recall Couy Griffin

Signatures to Date: 1229 of the 1574 required

Timeline: The 90-day signature collection window has passed as of 28 September, and the 1574 required signatures were not collected. The committee would like to thank all of the volunteers who helped in this process and all of the people who donated funds to help this effort. The inability to collect the required signatures ends the recall effort. The committee would like to remind everyone that the next election for Otero County district two commissioner will be on the November 2022 ballot. Regardless of who runs, we hope you go to the voting booths and let your voice be heard in local and other elections.

Fundraising: The donation totals will be finalized and reported in our Oct 4th report to the state. The total collected was slightly over $5,000 with a little over $300 left over. The remaining balance will be donated to a local non-partisan, non-profit in accordance with what the committee decided prior to fundraising.

Below are the five legal reasons that the recall was allowed to proceed to collecting signatures as part of a recall effort. It was not because of his rhetoric, it was not because of his activities on 6 January, and it was not because he is a supporter of the former president. It is because he was hired to do a job for Otero County and has spent a majority of his term on the road for his for-profit PAC instead of dealing with local issues.

Factual allegations for this recall include the following:

1. Fails to properly attend meetings (malfeasance, misfeasance, & violation of oath of office)

2. Conduct resulting in Banishment from the Mescalero Apache Sovereign Nation Lands (misfeasance, & violation of oath of office)

3. Use of County resources for Cowboys for Trump business (Malfeasance)

4. Filing improper travel voucher, failing to exercise proper fiduciary responsibility (Misfeasance)

5. Violation of the Gift Act by soliciting & accepting $3,500.00 from a restricted donor (Malfeasance)

If you would like to be more involved in local politics, we urge you to watch the Otero County commission meetings on YouTube on the 2nd Thursday of every month. The next meeting is scheduled for October 14th. You can use the following link to gather more information or to watch the meetings. https://www.co.otero.nm.us/271/County-Commission

You can register to vote at the NM secretary of State website: https://portal.sos.state.nm.us/OVR/WebPages/InstructionsStep1.aspx

We hope this effort has highlighted that members of the public have a legal right in accordance with New Mexico state law to attempt to recall elected officials. The recall process is intentionally difficult, as it should be, as it addresses the removal of a legally elected public official. The fact that the committee’s efforts were unsuccessful will be upsetting to some and rewarding to others. 1229 signatures represent 78% of what was required. Those signatures also represent 1229/4722 (26%) of the total votes cast in District Two during the last election. As reported before, roughly 30% of the signatures received were from registered Republican voters indicating this was not a partisan issue. Countless registered voters from the other Otero county districts were turned away from signing since only district two signatures counted for the recall effort.

Our county commissioners are one of three votes once they are elected. Therefore, each commissioner has significant input on all of the voters of Otero county. The recall laws only allow members of the specific district to sign even though the actions of each commissioner impact the entire county. Allowing all registered voters to sign a recall petition while at the same time increasing the required number of signatures is one of the recommendations we will make to the Secretary of State. Another idea is extending the 90 day timeframe to 120 days to allow for more time for the process. Many other states require less than 33% of the percentage of voters from the last election as is required in New Mexico. Our recommendations are not to try to change this recall effort, because this recall is over. Our recommendations to the SOS will be to better serve the people of New Mexico in future recall efforts by allowing all impacted members of the area to have a voice. Any accepted recommendations would have to be modified by the legislature.

The committee to recall Couy Griffin is hopeful that this effort has shined a light on local politicians and their actions while in office. Their actions should represent the best interest of their constituents and spend tax payer money responsibly. Also, their actions and statements as a county commissioner should be inclusive to all the members of their district and respectful of all people. This press release is the last act of the committee to recall Couy Griffin.

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