Fairfax council recall petition clears initial threshold

The Fairfax recall movement has cleared a major hurdle: the first signature count.

The petition to recall Mayor Lisel Blash received 1,783 signatures, and the petition to recall Vice Mayor Stephanie Hellman received 1,806 signatures, Town Manager Heather Abrams announced Monday. The petitions required signatures from at least 25% of the registered voters in town, or 1,479.

Appointed Town Clerk Linda Kenton completed the initial count on Monday. A final count will be conducted by the Marin County Elections Department. The county has up to 30 business days to verify the signatures. After verification, the Town Council has 14 days from its next regular meeting to call a special election. The election must be held 88 to 125 days from that date, according to the county.

Recall proponent Candace Neal-Ricker said the raw count is an “incredible milestone” in Fairfax history.

“Democracy has been through some hard times, and it is inspiring to see this aspect of democracy working,” Neal-Ricker said. “The people will be heard, the votes of constituents truly matter. Community matters.”

The recall proponents claim Blash and Hellman have failed to thoroughly review housing developments, mismanaged funds, disregarded the wishes of voters and put personal politics over the best interests of residents. The group opposes their approval of high-density housing and the town’s rent-control policies.

Blash said that while the last few months have been stressful, she is grateful for the Fairfax residents who have “stepped up” to learn more about how the town operates amid state and federal laws.

“With so much focus on national politics, the role of local government is often overlooked and under appreciated,” Blash said. “While the county verifies the signatures, council members need to stay focused on working together for the good of Fairfax. No matter what the outcome, we have important decisions before us in the coming months, including finalizing the annual budget.”

Blash was elected in 2022. Hellman was elected in 2018 and reelected in 2022. The recall effort is the second initiated against them. A recall petition filed by a group called the Committee to Rescue Fairfax was rejected last May because it lacked enough signatures.

“I’m glad to see the Town is in compliance with the state Elections Code and that the raw count by the Town Clerk has been completed,” Hellman said in a written statement. “Collecting and submitting signatures is just one step. I’m confident the County will conduct a thorough nonpartisan review to verify each signature belongs to a registered Fairfax voter. This is democracy in action.”

Resident Stephen Keese worked as a signature gatherer. He said “quite a few” people were unaware of the campaign, but most had heard about issues surrounding homeless campers in town or the proposed project to build a six-story apartment complex at School Street Plaza.

“I think the conversations went quite well,” Keese said.

If residents vote to recall Blash and Hellman, the remaining three council members would have 60 days to fill the vacancies by appointment or through a special election. The next regular election — with Blash’s and Hellman’s seats up for grabs — is in November 2026. A special election would cost around $60,000, Blash and Hellman have said.

Lew Tremaine, who served on the Town Council for 12 years, said that if the recall petition goes through, Blash and Hellman should resign to save the town money. He said their treatment of residents and council members has been “deplorable.”

“There’s a reason we’re going through this exercise, and that’s that people are highly unsatisfied with the job they are doing,” Tremaine said. “It has to get pretty bad for people to organize a recall.”

Resident Lynnette Shaw watched the preliminary count on Monday. She said feels neutral on the recall effort, but that there are clearly grievances going unheard and unaddressed in Fairfax.

“I really believe in power to the people,” Shaw said. “I’m proud people are standing up for their voice.”