By Katie Knapp Schubert
Omaha, NE – Omaha Mayor Jim Suttle and the City Council have received notice of the need for a recall election.
Election Commissioner Dave Phipps' office confirms that Mayor Jim Suttle and the City Council received those letters Monday. Mayor Suttle has until Friday to resign. If he doesn't, it's up to City Councilmen to set a recall election date 30 to 45 days from Monday.
Phipps says voters can expect a recall election to function the same way that all elections do, with regular polling places and hours. If a simple majority of voters approve a recall, the Mayor would leave office once results are certified. That usually takes eight to ten days. City Councilman Garry Gernandt would become interim Mayor.
The Council would appoint an interim Mayor within 30 days. 90 to 150 days after that would be another election for a new Mayor.
The Omaha City Council is expected to set a recall election date at next Tuesday's meeting. Meanwhile, a court hearing is scheduled for next Monday to hear allegations of fraud and misrepresentation by recall petition circulators.
Phipps says if the election results in a recall of Mayor Suttle, he can't run for the seat in the special election to choose a new Mayor. Suttle could, however, run for Mayor in 2013.