WESTMINSTER : Fry Escapes Recall Vote That 2 May Face

City Councilman Frank Fry Jr. has narrowly escaped a recall drive that has ensnared fellow council members Craig Schweisinger and Mayor Charles V. Smith.

City Clerk Mary Lou Morey said Wednesday that the drive to force Fry into a recall election failed by a scant 194 signatures. Recall proponents needed 6,614 signatures on each of three petitions to force a recall election of the three men. They succeeded, just barely, against Schweisinger and Smith, with signature totals of 6,655 and 6,705.

“I feel very elated about it,” Fry said on Wednesday. “It means there’s somebody out there who can say that I’m trying to work for them.”

He also said he believes that the drive against him failed in part because he reversed his decision on the 100% water rate increase that sparked the drive against the councilmen. Smith and Schweisinger maintained their support of the controversial hike, which Fry later supplied the swing vote to rescind.

Morey said the registrar of voters must verify the signatures of all registered voters on the petitions, which could be completed on Friday. If all the signatures are valid, a recall election would be held on June 2.

Smith said Wednesday that he doesn’t think the recall drive will succeed because it just barely had enough signatures to force the election, but he added, “We won’t know for sure until they do a tally. It may be weeks before we know the story.”

Schweisinger said he believes that the drive against him may fail because recall proponents did not get a large enough surplus of signatures. “I was surprised that they had achieved the excess of the 6,614, but at the same time, I was a bit amazed at the stupidity that they didn’t get a cushion to protect themselves. (But) I cant complain.”