The Lumberjack, July 15, 1987.

              T H E
L U M KALAVAR
3322 S. 300 EAST
SALT LAKE CITY, UT 84115
N O R T H E \CK BITV
Mecham recall petitions circulated
Holly Wolcott
Lumberjack Staff
Mecham Recall Committee offices
around the state officially opened their
doors Saturday, for the first day of col­lecting
signatures to force the recall of
Gov. Evan Mecham.
Flagstaff’s regional office, located at
124 N. San Francisco, made petitions
available for signing from 8 a.m . until
6 p.m. Deputy registrars were present
to register people who were interested in
signing the petition.
Friday night at the Adams Hotel in
Phoenix, Tom Murphy won the chance
to be the first person to sign the petition.
Byron Hayes, chairman of the Nor­thern
Arizona movement to recall
Mecham, is one of the original founders
of the statewide project.
In November of 1986, he started the
first “ Impeach M echam” sticker. Since
this time, Ed Buck has become the chair­man
and with Hayes’ efforts has begun
the process to recall Mecham.
The Northern Arizona Chapter of the
Mecham recall committee is the head of­fice
for all the area north of Black Ca­nyon
City. It supplies petitions and in­form
ation about its efforts to those
interested.
The funding for the Flagstaff office is
fronted by Hayes and he is reimbursed
with donations from the Phoenix recall
commitee office. Donations are receiv­ed
in $1, $5, $10 and $20 increments.
Hayes said that there is absolutely “ no
solicitation. ”
The Flagstaff office has approximate­ly
25 volunteers. From January to July,
$2,500 has been spent by the Flagstaff
office and more than $50,000 has been
spent in Phoenix. The money goes
toward producing literature to give to
the public and to pay rent on office
space.
Offices in Flagstaff, Phoenix, Tucson,
Yuma and Window Rock are hoping to
receive at least 216,000 signatures by the
120 day time limit. Hayes projects that
the statewide effort could bring in as
many as 350,000 signers.
Recall signatures cannot officially be
obtained until six months after the gover­nor
has been inaugurated. The recall
committee members began collecting
signatures six months, one day and one
hour after Mecham began. Legally, the
committee has between 100 and 120 days
to gathered the required signatures.
After all the signatures have been
gathered, they will be submitted to the
secretary of state. The office counts
them and if there are enough signatures,
the results are sent to the governor for
his decision.
At this time, the governor has two
choices. He may resign from his position
or elect to participate in a recall election.
Residents around the state began signing petitions for the recall petitions during the grand opening o f the Mecham Recall C om -
o f G o v. Evan Mecham last weekend. Flagstaff voters signed m ittee office in Flagstaff Saturday, at 124 N. San Francisco St.
The decision must be made within a five-day
period.
Hayes said that the movement is
“ backing no candidate” but is “ strictly
calling for democracy.’’
Joe Hyer, a Flagstaff resident, has
donated his time for driving a truck
around town and collecting signatures
and registering people who want to sign.
The vehicle stands out with a large sign
that says “ Mecham’s So Far Righf, He’s
W rong.”
Hayes says he has “ no doubt that
there will be enough signatures.” He
mentioned that a poll taken by a Phoenix
TV station, said 52 percent of those
surveyed said they would sign a petition
in favor of the recall. Hayes noted, ‘All
we need in 20 percent.”
The Committee also had a booth set
up at the Northern Arizona Forum on
Government at the DuBois Conference
Center at 3 p.m. on Saturday. Recall
petitions were available for signing.
NAU sophomore, Steven Westerhoff, is
helping the movement on the NAU cam­pus
and was present at the booth as a
deputy registrar to register people to vote
and collect signatures.
Westerhoff commented that Gov.
Mecham’s appointment of Ted Humes
to the Residential Utility Commission
was the problem he was most concerned
with. Before this appointm ent, Humes
ran unsuccessfully for a Corporation
Committee seat last November and cam­paigned
against RUCO in his platform .
Westerhoff said, “ Mecham was sup­posed
to protect us from increased utili­ty
rates.” He also mentioned that
Mecham could have handled the Martin
Luther King Day situation in a “ better
m anner.” Westerhoff says that various
agencies reported a loss of over $20
m illion because of the h o lid ay
cancellation.
In final comment, Hayes said he felt
the recall/watchdog operation is im por­tant
because “ Arizona is being victimiz­ed
by its own apathy.”