Raffenburg recall effort said kaput by backers
From our weekly issue dated June 18, 2008
The Committee to Recall Josephine County Commissioner Jim Raffenburg has stopped collecting signatures to place a recall election on a ballot.
At the end of 60 days approximately half of the 4,906 valid signatures had been collected for the recall effort, chief petitioner Cherryl Walker, of Grants Pass, said last week.
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“Most Josephine County residents want Jim Raffenburg out of office now,” she stated, “but want him to resign. They say they are not willing to pay $25,000 for a recall election, though that amount would not come from county general funds.
“But they will let Raffenburg continue in office until his term ends at a cost of nearly $60,000 that does come out of general funds.
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“When Raffenburg’s term ends Jan. 4, 2009, we will have paid him over $401,000 in salary and benefits for a job he was elected to by false and misleading representation of his background qualifications,” claimed Walker.
She added that she appreciates “all the volunteers who gathered signatures, and the nearly 2,500 people who signed the petitions.”
She added, “I believe we raised public awareness of the need to scrutinize candidates who run for public office, and to be wary of those who make claims that are difficult to substantiate or that the candidate is unwilling to cooperate with third parties or the press to investigate.”
