Brandon Betz recall, Lansing, Michigan (2021-2022)
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| Lansing city council recall |
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An effort to recall First Ward City Councillor Brandon Betz in Lansing, Michigan, ended after Betz resigned in January 2022.[1][2]
Recall organizers said they initiated the recall campaign because Betz was still drawing a salary as a city council member after the council had stripped him from his committee assignments in February of 2021.[3] Betz replied that the recall petition contained falsehoods and that he was still performing city council work.[4]
Recall supporters[edit]
The recall was initiated months after Betz sent a series of text messages, which can be found here, to the former co-leader of Lansing Black Lives Matter, Michael Lynn Jr. In response to the messages, several local political organizations called on Betz to resign, including the Ingham County Democratic Party, the Lansing Democratic Socialists of America, and Lansing Black Lives Matter.[2]
Lansing resident Undra Brown filed a recall petition for Betz on October 26, 2021. As of 2021, Brown worked for a political consulting firm called Rouge Strategy Group alongside Scott Hagerstrom, who was the Michigan state director for Donald Trump's (R) 2016 presidential campaign.[2]
The petition gave the following statement of motivation for the recall campaign:[2]
| “ |
City Council member Brandon Betz was condemned unanimously by the City Council for unprofessional conduct in Resolution 29 of 2021. ... Betz has been removed from his committee assignments and on Aug. 26, 2021, Betz admitted on social media he ‘receded into private.’ Betz is still collecting his $26,552 salary as a part-time Council member.[5] |
” |
Recall opponents[edit]
According to CityPULSE, Betz did not offer an extended comment but said that the recall petition was "false and misleading."[2]
Path to the ballot[edit]
- See also: Laws governing recall in Michigan
Organizers submitted the recall petition language to Ingham County on October 26, 2021. The county election commission rejected the petition on November 15, 2021, on the grounds that it wasn't filed by a registered voter of Lansing City Council Ward 1. After the commission rejected a second version of the petition, organizers appealed the decision to the 30th circuit court.[6][7]
After Ingham County Circuit Court Judge Clinton Canady ruled that the petition language could be approved if typos in the petition were fixed, Betz resigned effective January 7, 2022.[1]
Organizers would have needed to collect signatures from around 2,545 voters, or 25% of voters from Lansing City Council District 1 who cast votes in the previous gubernatorial election.[2]
See also[edit]
- Recall campaigns in Michigan
- Political recall efforts, 2021
- Political recall efforts, 2022
- City council recalls
External links[edit]
Footnotes[edit]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 WKAR, "Lansing Councilman Brandon Betz resigns," January 7, 2022
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 City Pulse, "Eastside residents seek to recall Betz from Lansing City Council," October 27, 2021
- ↑ Lansing State Journal, "Lansing City Council censures Betz, strips committee assignments over profane texts to activist," February 8, 2021
- ↑ Fox47 News, "Recall petition submitted for Lansing Councilman Brandon Betz," October 30, 2021
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Lansing City Pulse, "Election Commission blocks recall petition against Betz — for now," November 15, 2021
- ↑ Election Commission kills recall petition against Betz — again," December 6, 2021
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