Recall bid nixed

Tuesday, May 20, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.

Visiting District Judge Michael Griffin of Carson City granted a motion dismissing the recall process against council members Charles Basso and Georgiann Timko, whose terms expire next month.

Timko is not seeking re-election. Basso's support among voters will be decided when he faces challenger Jean Kneese in the regular June 3 election, Griffin said.

Griffin also dismissed the recall effort against Councilwoman Dorothy Phillips after her attorney argued that the petition process was flawed. She has two years left in her term.

Lawyer Jeffery J. Kump said state law specifically requires that each page of a petition specify which elected official is being targeted and that the words "recall petition" appear in at least 10-point bold type. Those conditions were not met, he said.

Griffin said the omissions, particularly the name of the targeted official, means someone could have signed a petition against one council member thinking that they were signing it to recall another council member.

"There's no such thing as a good faith defense to a recall petition," Griffin ruled. "In a recall petition, the legislation has to be strictly followed."