By Tom McClimon
June 29, 2009

"Recall Squashed" boldly proclaimed the headline of the Akron Beacon following the victory of Akron Mayor Donald L. Plusquellic in a recall election. Held June 23, Plusquellic, a past President of The U.S. Conference of Mayors, easily trounced the opposition taking about 75 percent of the vote. It was the first such recall election in Akron's history.

"I am going to continue to be strong and fight for the citizens of Akron," proclaimed Plusquellic at his victory party. Having been elected to a sixth term in 2007, the mayor's supporters argued that the recall election was a waste of taxpayers' money; and that the mayor's strong leadership was evidenced by his record in rebuilding the city's economic base.

Akron's city charter provides that a recall can be initiated with a very low threshold of supporters. Only slightly over 3,000 signatures were needed on a petition to trigger the recall vote. This represents only about three percent of Akron's registered voters.

The U.S. Conference of Mayors is documenting the Akron recall election and other mayoral recall elections in a video for use at future mayors' leadership seminars.