Pekin City Council rejects mayor’s proposal allowing recall of elected officials

PEKIN (25 News Now) - A proposal that would have made it possible for Pekin voters to remove elected leaders from office was defeated by the city council Monday night.

The council’s vote was 6-1, with Karen Hohimer the only member favoring the idea.

Incumbent Mayor Mark Luft is not running for re-election this April, but three others are including two who currently sit on the city council.

Luft wanted the city to establish a procedure allowing voters to kick elected officials out of office.

“As requested by a large input of people in the community that asked me to do that,” said Luft who eventually voted against his own proposal because of the negative feedback.

Local governments can generally set their own rules in determining how elected leaders can be removed from office, however the idea of establishing recalls in Pekin was met with confusion, especially from the mayoral candidates.

“A lot of unknowns, a lot of questions, and now the more we talk, there (are) going to be more questions asked,” said councilman and mayoral candidate David Nutter.

Nutter and council member Becky Cloyd are on the mayoral ballot. A judge last week reinstated Cloyd after a three-person committee that included Luft initially removed her name from the ballot.

Also in the mayoral race is Tazewell County Treasurer Mary Burress. Luft said Burress is most qualified for the job, but he’s not formally endorsing any of the candidates.

The election is April 4.

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