Kiwanians scrutinize recall signers
By Linda Bentley | November 4, 2009
CAREFREE – According to Carefree Town Clerk Betsy Wise, two requests were made for copies of the Recall David Schwan petitions; one by Kiwanian Ralph Pipp and the other by Carefree Councilwoman and Kiwanis President Susan Vanik.
On July 30, Vanik confronted a couple of people at town hall as they were signing the recall petition and told them they shouldn’t be signing because the petitions would become public information and when word got out they signed, it would ruin their reputations.
Vanik’s fellow Kiwanians Gary Hayward and Huber Stevens also harassed people at town hall who were signing the petition with Stevens telling one of the recall volunteers, “Just wait until we get a hold of the petitions.”
This harassment may be in violation of A.R.S. § 19-206(A), which states: “A person who knowingly induces or compels any other person, either directly or indirectly or by menace or threat that he will or may be injured in his business … to sign or subscribe, or to refrain from signing or subscribing, his name to a recall petition, or after signing or subscribing his name, to have his name taken therefrom, is guilty of a class 1 misdemeanor.”
Sonoran News contacted Vanik last Friday to ask if she was calling people with that same intent, telling citizens they would be ruining their reputation by having signed the recall petition and urging them to withdraw their names from the petition.
Vanik responded, “No, I made one phone call because of extenuating circumstances around the people who are behind the recall, just for clarification.”
When asked why she obtained copies of the petitions, Vanik stated it was just for her own general information.
At first she said, “There were absolutely no surprises. In fact, I recognized a total of 10 names” other than the people involved with the recall.
Vanik then said, “I was surprised – I thought that I would recognize more names.”
Photo by Linda Bentley