Published: 6/23/2023 11:55:57 AM
EASTHAMPTON — A group of residents is now looking to recall Mayor Nicole LaChapelle for her role in the search that failed to produce a permanent superintendent this spring.
In the weeks after the School Committee rescinded its job offer to superintendent candidate Vito Perrone, residents Cathy Wauczinski and Jean Pao Wilson began collecting signatures to recall Cynthia Kwiecinski, chairperson of the committee, for her part in the search.
Around the same time, City Clerk Barbara LaBombard said some residents had taken out an affidavit to recall the mayor. And though the effort to recall Kwiecinski has failed due to lack of signatures, the process to recall the mayor has just begun.
LaBombard confirmed Thursday that she had certified an affidavit to recall the mayor was signed by more than 400 registered voters with at least 60 from each of the city’s five precincts.
“I will be issuing a petition today,” she said.
Among the reasons cited on the affidavit for recalling LaChapelle is her role in the superintendent search; sending police to a candidate’s home to make a job offer at midnight; “poor judgment” and “unprofessional” behavior; and “disregarding” citizen concerns.
In a previous interview, Wauczinski, who declined comment for this story, said “many citizens” were dissatisfied with LaChapelle as mayor, adding that a list of concerns grew about “her job performance” with much of her leadership in the city “focused on a very small group of citizens.”
LaChapelle previously stated that she will continue to uphold the oath she took when she was elected to the position of mayor in 2017, 2019 and 2021. Her four-year term is set to expire in 2025.
Per the city charter, LaBombard is required to mail blank recall petitions to the first 10 signers of the recall affidavit. Those 10 residents will then need to collect a total of 2,517 signatures — which is 20% of the total number of registered voters as of the last city election.
They have 21 days or until Thursday, July 13 at 5 p.m. to file the petition, she said.
LaBombard also noted that nomination papers for the Nov. 7 election will be available starting Monday, July 3.
The offices that will appear on this year’s ballot include: six School Committee seats, four at-large City Council seats, and five precinct councilor seats; one for each of the five voting precinct districts.
Emily Thurlow can be reached at ethurlow@gazettenet.com.
