OTTAWA COUNTY, Mich. — A recall petition against an Ottawa County commissioner is moving forward.
At a clarity hearing Monday morning, the Ottawa County Election Commission unanimously approved the petition language submitted by a Park Township resident to recall Commissioner Lucy Ebel.
The purpose of the clarity hearing was to determine if the recall petition language is factual and of sufficient clarity before the petition is circulated.
With the commission’s approval, petitioners will now begin collecting signatures. To number of signatures needed to get the recall petition on the November ballot is equal to 25% of the votes cast in the commissioner’s district for all candidates for the office of governor in the last gubernatorial election.
The recall petition was filed by Larry Jackson from Park Township.
The petition says on Feb. 28, Ebel voted in favor of a motion that would have reversed Adeline Hambley’s selection as the county’s health officer on Dec. 13, 2022.
Proposito, a Latino-based organization in Michigan, held a press conference earlier this month to show their support for Ebel, calling the recall racially targeted because Ebel is the only Latino commissioner.
Jackson, however, says his filing has nothing to do with her heritage.
"I would say people will say anything to cling to power. And that won't, that won't stop the voters from District Two from exercising our First Amendment right to petition for a recall," Jackson previously told FOX 17.
Jackson did write on the petition that Ebel voted to correct the previous board of commissioners' decision to appoint Adeline Hambley as the county's top health officer.
Hambley filed a lawsuit, which is currently working its way through the Court of Appeals.
Ebel is the first member of Ottawa Impact to have a recall petition filed against her.
If petitioners are able to gather enough valid signatures, a special recall election will be added to the ballot for the November general election.
