GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – Jim Schmitt opponents have been organizing the recall effort for the past five weeks.
That’s when Schmitt survived a city council vote to remove him from office. The council fell one vote short of the three-quarters agreement needed for Schmitt to lose his job.
Alderman Guy Zima tells WLUK the recall will likely be registered with the city clerk within the next two weeks.
Schmitt was convicted of three misdemeanor campaign finance violations on December 5th after a 20-month investigation.
As part of his sentence, Schmitt has served 40 hours of community service and paid $4,000 in fines.
Zima says he has a list of about 60 people ready to circulate recall petitions.
“When we feel we have the right number, we’ll be going forward”
Zima has been collecting a list of volunteers because state law requires 8,467 signatures of qualified Green Bay voters to force a recall election for the city’s mayor.
Once a recall is registered with the city clerk, a 60-day window starts to collect those signatures.
Before that clock begins, Zima would like a spokesperson for his group.
“I think the public needs to see this is more than just politicians. It’s more than just Guy Zima who has really never had much respect for this mayor of ours.”
“I think it’s unfortunate, but it is the right of the people to do it,” said Green Bay Alderperson Barbara Dorff.
Dorff is one of the four council members who voted in February against Schmitt’s removal as mayor.
“I think it will again cause a lot of upheaval in the city and it will take our focus off of the work that we need to be doing, which is the work of the city”
That is the same approach Schmitt has taken to a possible recall.
Schmitt has said he plans to serve the rest of his term, which ends in 2019.
If the petition is registered within the next two weeks, and the signatures are collected and verified, an election could be held as early as this summer.