Veteran Council Member Resigns to Avoid Special Election
Trevor Phipps
The controversy surrounding the Woodland Park city council recall has officially reached a conclusion, at least for now.
The last of an ambitious petition effort, aimed at recalling all Woodland Park council members, has fallen short due to a lack of verified signatures from registered voters.
In addition, the city won’t be forced to dish out around $30,000 to hold a special recall election. Out of the four petitions that were turned in to recall city council members, the only one that got enough signatures to force a special recall election was the ouster petition against Councilwoman Carrol Harvey.
But under city rules, Harvey could choose to resign instead of going through with the special recall election. And that is exactly what happened early last week.
On May 13, the city submitted a press release stating that Harvey submitted her resignation instead of going through with the election.
“I am very appreciative of the opportunity to serve the community by providing my experience and expertise to the incoming City Council in 2024,” Harvey said in the press release. “At this point in time, I believe all council members, including the latest appointee, are prepared to govern with confidence and care for our city.”
Harvey has served on the Woodland Park City Council and other local boards for many years. She played a role in the update of the city’s charter and also has acted as the main moderator in candidate forums sponsored by the WP chamber of commerce. She actually resigned previously in 2019 after reportedly receiving death threats when she was involved with a deer management task force.
Harvey was then appointed in May 2023 to fill a vacant council seat after former Councilman David Ott resigned. Harvey didn’t run in the regular election in April 2024, but she was appointed again by city council to fill the vacant seat that developed after then Councilwoman Kellie Case won the election for mayor.
The city now has two options to fill the vacant seat. They could open the position up for applicants and appoint someone to fill the remainder of Harvey’s term, which is a route they have often taken in the past. O, they could decide to call a special election to fill the seat.
No More Recall Petitions Circulating
During the peak of the school district vs. city council battle, petitions were pulled to recall every council member, along with the mayor pro tem and mayor. Councilwoman Teri Baldwin resigned before her petition got turned in with signatures.
The recall petitions submitted for council members Jeffrey Geer and Steve “Smitty” Smith didn’t end up having enough verified signatures to force an election. Both Geer and Smith’s petitions had more than 100 signatures that didn’t get verified. The petitions submitted that targeted Harvey did have enough autographs from registered voters to move forward, but not by much.
On May 12, the city issued a press release stating that the petition to recall Mayor Pro Tem Catherine Nakai was also deemed insufficient. Out of the 627 signatures turned in, the city clerk was only able to certify 507, which missed the 577 mark needed to force a special recall election.
For weeks, rumors abounded regarding petitions circulating to recall Councilman George Jones and Mayor Kellie Case. However, those petitions were never turned into the city clerk’s office. According to Case, the people who pulled the recall petitions for Jones and herself told the city clerk that they decided not to turn them in.
For now, the drama surrounding the school district and city council fight has subsided politically. But there are still two lawsuits filed by the school district surrounding the elimination of the city sales tax that will soon have their days in court.
The first lawsuit filed by the Woodland Park RE-2 School District states that the council unlawfully went into executive session during the emergency meeting in which they repealed the school sales tax. The second lawsuit questions the authority of the city council to eliminate the school sales tax increase, which was approved by voters twice.
A district judge most likely will decide the merits of these lawsuits.
