Time Running Out On Effort To Recall El Paso Mayor
EL PASO, Texas – The clock is ticking on the push to recall El Paso’s mayor. Time is running out for the group trying to take out John Cook over that Stormwater fee. The group of business owners that calls itself the “Concerned Tax Payers of El Paso” must bring eight thousand signaturesto city hall Friday or the recall effort will fail.
“I haven’t been off the phone today with people calling, because they know it is a deadline,” said Gary Hoff, the owner of The Blimp Sandwich Shop on Texas Avenue, the man heading up the effort by 30 El Paso businesses to recall Cook. “Some people are out today walking. They told me they’ll be walking in this 100 degree weather to get more signatures.”
As of Thursday afternoon, Hoff said they had gathered about 6,000 signatures. That’s still about 2,000 shy of what they’ll need to have the mayor recalled.
“If it really hits hard today, maybe we can get close,” Hoff said.
City Representative Susie Byrd has defended the mayor throughout this process and she has some concerns about business owners on the list.
“One of them is Oscar Leeser,” Byrd said. “I believe he is running for mayor. My concern is thatis this is an effort on a policy issue, or is this more of a looking forward to a mayoral election?”
Leeser ownsHyundai of El Paso and is one of many car dealership owners who say they’ve been hit hard by the Stormwater fee. He confirmed he is considering a run for mayor, but says this recall effort has nothing to do with that. Mayor Cook was out of town on business Thursday, but he told ABC-7 in a phone interview, “I do believe the whole recall effort is politically motivated … I’m just going to wait until the dust settles and see what to do from there.”
