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Petition to recall councilwoman enters next phase

The columbia City Council unanimously passed a measure creating the EEZ Board.
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The columbia City Council unanimously passed a measure creating the EEZ Board.

A petition that could potentially remove Ginny Chadwick, Columbia's First Ward councilwoman, is now being reviewed by the city clerk. According to the city charter, the clerk has 30 days to review the 451 signatures submitted Monday by various citizen groups. For the recall to go into effect, the petition needs 249 valid signatures from First Ward residents.

Chadwick is under fire for her involvement with the down vote of the decriminalization of marijuana in Columbia, when she said she would support decriminalization during her campaign. As well, Chadwick indicated that she would support the halt of construction on The Opus Groups' student housing complex – she then supported it after her election.

CoMo Council Watch, a recently created group that is involved with the petition and is comprised of residents who supported Repeal 6214, a referendum that attempted to cancel the construction of the student housing complex, is especially upset with Chadwick's performance in office.

"She made some campaign promises that she didn’t keep," said Pam Cooper, the spokesperson for CoMo Council Watch. "We feel that she is rather out of touch with her constituency in these respects and the First Ward deserves better representation than that."

Although Chadwick says CoMo Council Watch "misrepresented" what they could do with their petition to stop the construction of the student housing complex, she says that the current recall process against her is "fair."

"It's a process that constituents have the option to take. So, if they feel that a representative isn’t representing them, they can go through the process," Chadwick said.   

If the city clerk cannot validate enough of the necessary First Ward signatures required for the recall of Chadwick within 30 days, groups will have 14 additional days to search and submit replacements.

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