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St. Francis city official under fire beats back a recall vote
Weather may hurt turnout but some point to an aggressive campaign on behalf of embattled Council member LeRoy Schaffer.
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Team leader • Kathleen Clonts 612-673-7301 kclonts@startribune.com Reporter • Maria Elena Baca 612-673-4409 mbaca@startribune.com Schools • Norm Draper 612-673-4547 ndraper@startribune.com Reporter • Paul Levy 612-673-4419 plevy@ startribune.com Reporter • Jim Adams 612-673-7658 jadams@ startribune.comHELPFUL NUMBERS
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Voters in St. Francis decided not to remove embattled City Council Member LeRoy Schaffer from office in a special election Tuesday. Schaffer held on to his seat, thanks to 341 supporting votes; 300 voted to oust him.
The vote total is fewer than the 10 percent of registered voters who signed a petition to hold the recall election. City Clerk Barb Held said road conditions and long commutes might have factored into the low turnout.
Amy Lazere, a member of the committee the initiated the recall, credited Schaffer's victory to an aggressive campaign that she said was girded by lies and misrepresentations.
"I'm ready to puke that the city of St. Francis is on his side," she said. "I guess the city got what it wanted and they can live with it and see what happens."
Schaffer was not available for comment Tuesday.
He has been under fire since a year ago, when he was accused of making inappropriate sexual remarks to a younger woman at a social event. He was censured by the City Council for that incident.
The recall group also accused Schaffer, 69, of spreading false information to residents, and of acting erratically and without city backing.
A police call to report a crew of Spanish-speaking roofers, and an outburst at a television reporter over the summer, led detractors to call him an embarrassment. Supporters called Schaffer a patriot, a straight talker who refuses to march in step with the council.
The recall group had hoped to schedule the recall for Election Day; almost 300 of their 807 signatures had to be tossed because only previously registered voters were eligible to sign the petition. They needed 741, or 10 percent of the city's voters. They reached their goal 10 days later, after the Election Day deadline.
In the meantime, committee member Jeff Sandoval narrowly won a council seat, beating out incumbent Ray Jones by three votes. Schaffer filed a lawsuit against the city to try to stop the vote. He tried to take a restraining order against the recall group, the mayor and City Council members.
Sandoval said he was disappointed by the outcome and worried about the prospect of having to work with Schaffer on the council.
"One side of it will be very difficult," he said. "It will be very difficult to work with him because I don't believe he has any credibility. The other side of it is I have to do what's best for this city, and that means having to work with him."
Maria Elena Baca • 612-673-4409
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