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February 8, 2010

Dougherty petition comes up short

By Philip Jankowski Stillwater NewsPress

STILLWATER, Okla. — A petition to recall Stillwater City Councilor Darrell Dougherty will not move forward without more signers after officials from the Payne County Election Board found a number of signatures were invalid.

The preliminary petition fell 17 signatures short of the 100 registered Stillwater voters required by the city charter, according to Deputy City Clerk Clara Welch. When it was turned in last Thursday, the petition had 114 signatures.

The petition had accused Dougherty of partiality in office and public intoxication.

Dougherty did not immediately return phone calls seeking comment Monday morning.

The rejection of the petition does not prohibit its author, game store owner Jim Trent, from adding additional signatures to the total, Welch said.

Because Trent’s submitted signatures were part of a preliminary petition, there is no hard timeline on how long it takes to collect 100 valid signatures. Trent can push the petition forward by submitting additional signatures. A call to Trent was not returned Monday morning. Trent was Mayor Nathan Bates' campaign manager last year. Dougherty is circulating petitions to have Bates recalled. That petition is progressing. Trent says Bates is not involved in the effort to recall Dougherty.

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