It has been less than a day since the attorney for impeached Carthage Mayor Dan Rife filed a petition for a writ of prohibition to keep him in office and already the case is on its third judge.
The first judge assigned to the case, Dean Dankelson, recused himself and the case was assigned to Judge David Mouton.
After Mouton's recusal this morning, the petition was sent to Division 1 Judge Gayle Crane to review, according to Jasper County Circuit Court online records.
Rife was impeached on four of five counts Tuesday by 6-2 margins. His attorney, Christopher Thornton, says the city code requires two-thirds of the number of elected council members, which should be 7 since Carthage elects 10 council members, but two, Dustin Edge and David Armstrong, resigned.
13 comments:
One of these days we will finally know who can fire the the mayor
The next election would be fair. The people of Carthage could decide and not 6
The legal process is always so drawn out and strange to me. It seems Carthage is on its next in a long list of needed court cases within a very short time. But, with each new issue, it’s an elongated ride on the “judge recusal merry-go-round”. I’m probably overlooking some necessity for what always takes place. Wouldn’t it be wise if it could go immediately to assignment outside 29th Circuit after one judge’s review? It’s well established everyone there has need to recuse themselves from Carthage leaders. Can’t we just send it to 29th, and have the first Judge notice this reality, and he/she send it out to 39th Circuit Ct, or 40th next? And skip the merry-go-round? It happens at the onset of every need Carthage has for a judge to weigh in.
Voters can through elections and recalls. Or a legitimate impeachment, with real charges following an actual process, would also do it… one can only hope, however, that this theater of political punishment pushed by special interests would be seen for what it was and be overturned.
What happened to the link on the original article “within 24 hours” and large pic of Mayor Dan Rife? None of the links for comments, etc, open now.
His attorney, Christopher Thornton, says the city code requires two-thirds of the number of elected council members, which should be 7 since Carthage elects 10 council members, but two, Dustin Edge and David Armstrong, resigned.
The problem here is “should be”…… the actual number of sitting (current) council members is 8 which means two- thirds of the council is currently 6. You can’t count empty seats as elected members, those are vacant seats.
I am really surprised that a town the size of Carthage can be so petty on what appears to be nothing more was "you did it to me, I am going to do it to you". Hope the town gets to put some sort of effort to make the town better. It's not looking good for our area!
Responding to 1:42.
This is incorrect. It has to do with the specific wording. “Elected” always means 10, whether they are vacant or filled seats, because Carthage elected 10 council members. Regardless of whether or not any resigned. So, 2/3s of “elected” council members means 7.
But, “Seated” means the precise number currently serving, so “seated” would mean 8 since there are currently 8 serving. 2/3s of “seated” council members means 6.
The law for the State and for our Code on this matter says “elected”. The number is 7.
But, it’s true that for voting on less significant issues, the code/law allow for “seated” or “currently serving”, etc. Where ever it says “elected” though, it’s based off how many chairs the city has. Carthage has 10.
It requires 7. Did the research. Guarantee it.
Let's not forget they amended the rules last month. Just because of course because they're not biased. Wonder why thousands of dollars has been spent to promote Cossey? CCU won't address how she treats city employees, how she treats Leece during meeting, and how she really is just a terrible person. Also notice how Martin fought trying to prevent getting the statement the CCU head made about getting Dagnan fired, Rife impeached, and then the Peterson investigation interfered with?
This could not be more black and white, and stop with the Martin did anything to impede anyone from testifying. Gagnan did that when he weaseled out. Perhaps was him who's butt was puckered? Martin laid down FACTS. Taylor is a complete oaf and has been comic relief for some time, but hoped Leece would be rational. Anything that she votes for at this point has zero merit. She discredited and dishonored herself beyond measure.
They counted vacant seats with regard to the number of needed votes for the fire chief... what's good for the goose is good for the gander. Fire Chief needed simple majority which is 6 of 10 seats. Of those present and voting he got 4 yes votes, 1 no vote, 3 abstained from voting. Impeachment requires 2/3 of elected seats(7 of 10). Your obstinate opinion appears more like willful ignorance. You can't change the law just because you lost your perceived ironclad 7th vote when Mr. Edge resigned. Maybe he found out just how flawed your agenda was and refused to be a part of it. Good luck getting a judge to ignore precedence and case law.
Paul Wilson, don’t you have more important things to do? Why are so obsessed with Greg Dagnan?
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