Group trying to recall Houston mayor turns in signatures

Signature-gatherers said they had no trouble finding registered voters willing to sign the recall petition. Their petition-gathering effort took three days.

"I'd go to one house and they'd say, 'My neighbor wants to sign, too,' " said signature-gatherer Julia Normand.

Kathleen Baken-Barney, who launched the recall effort, said she spent a lot of time driving around the city of 1,755 residents to bring her petition to people who called, asking to sign it.

Former Houston City Councilman Glen Tilghman said many of the signatures were collected Tuesday when the group met at a local restaurant to discuss strategy. The group arrived to find about 50 people waiting for them, he said.

"I thought we were going to get lynched when we drove up and all those people were there," Tilghman said.

Houston City Clerk Steven Cunningham said he has 10 days to verify that at least 73 of the signatures match state voter registration rolls, though he might finish the task today. If everything is valid, Cunningham expects to hold a June 22 special election. He estimates a special election could cost the city $10,000 to $12,000.

Former Houston Police Sgt. Charlie Seidl gathered the most signatures: 49. The Houston City Council fired Seidl last week after repeated clashes with the mayor.

Baken-Barney's recall application focused on a December trip the mayor and his wife, Bianca, made to Fairbanks to deliver a grant application. The couple drove a new city police vehicle equipped with a camera that recorded when its flashing emergency lights were used. It recorded Purcell using the flashing blue and red lights for a few seconds at the trip's outset.

Baken-Barney, in the recall application, called the use a violation of state administrative code and stated that it displayed "a gross misconduct in office, incompetence, and a failure to perform those duties as prescribed ..."

Baken-Barney is upset with Purcell for other activities too but focused her application on the Fairbanks trip.

Purcell said he might have flipped the lights on at the beginning of the trip but did not use emergency lights and sirens on his drive to Fairbanks.

"A two-second flashing of lights? That's what this whole recall is," he said Tuesday.

Find Rindi White online at adn.com/contact/rwhite or call 907-352-6709.