Providence Board of Canvassers Votes to Allow Jackson Recall Effort to Move Forward

Providence Board of Canvassers Votes to Allow Jackson Recall Effort to Move Forward

The Providence Board of Canvassers voted Friday to allow the effort to recall City Councilman Kevin Jackson to move forward. 

The nearly four hour hearing with drew heated debate between the lawyers for Jackson, Artin Coloian and Daniel Calabro, and the recently hired counsel for the Board of Canvassers, Bill Dolan, who was joined by Nick Nybo, as to how the hearing Friday was conducted. 

Jackson’s attorneys had filed dozens of objections to the more than 300 signatures collected by recall organizers Patricia Kammerer and Karina Wood, including contesting 65 specific signatures, which were taken up on Friday by the Board of Canvassers —which  was moderated predominantly by Dolan and Nybo. 

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Response to Meeting

“I’m more disappointed in the process or lack of,” said Coloian following the hearing. “Our goal is to have a fair hearing. That’s our goal.  They wouldn’t allow for us to have witnesses, they didn’t explain [their votes] — it was not a fair proceeding.”

Coloian and Calabro had requested that the circulators of petition be subpoenaed, alleging that the documents had been amended after some of the signatures were taken, and also requested that the handwriting expert they used be called as a witness.

Coloian argued that the process should be “tedious.”

“I can’t stress how essential it is for our client’s due process rights,” said Coloian. 

Next Steps

As GoLocal reported, the battle over the recall of Kevin Jackson in Providence has attracted seven different lawyers representing four different entities and has already had hearings and conferences before one judge (Richard Licht), and another governmental body (Providence Board of Canvassers).

"That barn burner has generated more than 100 pages of complaints and responses and has triggered the city to hire one outside law firm at $200 per hour -- which was awarded to a significant campaign donor, Bill Dolan," wrote GoLocal. 

Now, the recall organizers would have to now collect 2,000 signatures from Ward 3 voters in the next 120 days. If that threshold is met,  Ward 3 voters would then be asked to vote yes or no on whether to recall Jackson.

A special election would be held in the event he is recalled. 

Coloian and Calabro said that they are “keeping their options open” as to next steps in their legal strategy, but declined to comment further.