http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/1116recall1116.html Recall petitions target Arpaio, Thomas
Yvonne Wingett
The Arizona Republic
Nov. 16, 2007 12:00 AM
An effort has begun to remove Maricopa County's two top law-enforcement officials: Sheriff Joe Arpaio and County Attorney Andrew Thomas.
A group named Arizonans for the U.S. Constitution and Recall of Joe Arpaio must collect 283,300 valid signatures from registered county voters to put the question of recalling the sheriff on a future ballot. A group called Arizonans for the U.S. Constitution and Recall of Andrew Thomas must collect 252,039 valid signatures.
If the organizations succeed and turn in the signatures by Feb. 26, the questions would likely appear on the November 2008 ballot, said Kristi Passarelli, campaign-finance and jurisdictional manager for the county's election department.
The group filed the forms Oct. 29 and listed, "Disobeying and violating the United States Constitution and abuse of power," as grounds.
"We figured the two of them are very wrong," said William Crum of El Mirage. He is upset the Sheriff's Office has overspent and said Arpaio should not enforce immigration laws.
Thomas had no comment on the effort, said spokesman Barnett Lotstein. Arpaio isn't concerned about the recall attempt because his poll numbers are high, he said, reflecting the public's satisfaction with his performance.