By Beth David, Editor
Fairhaven Town Clerk Carolyn Hurley and the board of registrars have officially certified 2521 of the signatures on the petition for the recall of Selectboard member Daniel Freitas. Ms. Hurley submitted a letter dated 5/3/21 to the Selectboard, declaring that 2521 signatures have been certified by the registrars and that it is at least 20% of the total number of registered voters of preceding election.
The Recall Dan Freitas group needed to get a minimum of 2384 certified signatures to trigger the recall process. According to the group, they gathered a total of 2705 signatures. They submitted the signatures last Tuesday. The Town Clerk’s office then set about certifying the signatures.
Mr. Freitas has five days to resign, in which case the board will have two members until/if they decide to hold a special election to fill the vacancy. A petition by 200 registered voters can also force a special election.
If Mr. Freitas does not resign, then the recall election must be scheduled between 60 and 90 days of the date the signatures were certified.
In a public Facebook post, Mr. Freitas had said that it was just a small group of people who spread “numerous lies” about him.
“If they do get the signatures needed I will resign. I will not run for re-election. I have given a large portion of my adult life to helping the people in this town!” wrote Mr. Freitas on that Facebook post on April 15.
When contacted about the new development, Mr. Freitas directed the Neighb News to his attorney Ernest Horn.
In a phone interview on Tuesday, Mr. Horn said that they started reviewing the signatures that day and had already found “discrepancies.”
They will go through all the signatures, he said, and then file for a hearing with the town clerk to review them. “If appropriate,” he said, they will make a referral to the secretary of state and/or the attorney general’s office for any suspected forgeries.
If there are signatures that are signed by the people named and those people did not know, “that is forgery under definition of law,” he said.
Mr. Horn also said there are other reasons that a signature may be challenged, such as if it is difficult to read.
“Some irregularities have been found,” he said.
If there is a name in question, he said it will be up to the registrars if that person gets contacted to verify if he or she did sign.
Then they would go to the secretary of state, he said, then to the attorney general if anything illegal is suspected. The state authorities will look at it and conduct an investigation, which may include contacting the person.
“The first step is with the town clerk,” said Mr. Horn, then “based on how widespread the problem seems to be,” they will decide if it is appropriate to ask for a criminal referral.
He said he did not have a timeline because there were a lot of petition pages and they had just started looking at them on that day. Mr. Horn also said that they had not calculated how many they would need to disqualify in order for the process to be stopped.
“But more importantly,” he said. “My client’s position is anyone who has been unfairly represented should be vindicated.”
He said that is true for both sides of the issue, if people wanted to sign and “didn’t have a chance,” or if there is a name on there and the person did not want to sign.
“Open, transparent elections are very important in this country, and we are certainly very aware of that these days,” said Mr. Horn.
When contacted for comment about the possible challenge to some signatures, the Recall Dan Freitas Group sent a written statement that it also posted on Facebook.
“This is an affront to the legitimate process that was followed and a blatant insult to the 2,500+ voters who signed that petition in good faith,” reads the statement. “This group implores you, the public, to write to the Board of Selectmen to urge Selectman Freitas to resign.”
The statement says that the public has spoken and volunteers worked “diligently to follow the recall process to the letter of the law.”
They also noted that Mr. Freitas said publicly that he would resign if the 20% threshold was met.
“Once again, he is going back on his word and showing an egregious disregard for our Town’s civic process,” wrote the group.
The 4/15 Facebook post, however, is not the first time Mr. Freitas has indicated, in writing, that he would resign.
In response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, the Neighb News received two emails from last December in which Mr. Freitas informed town officials that he planned to resign. He did not resign and he did not address the resignations publicly in a meeting or online. In order to resign, a town official must submit the resignation in writing to the Town Clerk’s office, which Mr. Freitas never did.
On December 5, 2020, Mr. Freitas sent an email with the subject “Resigning,” to Selectboard member Keith Silvia, Board of Health chairperson Peter DeTerra, and to himself at a second email address.
He wrote:
“To whom it may concern,
“It is with great sadness that I must let you know that I am resigning my position as Selectman effective immediately. I have spent many years volunteering my time to the town and I believe it is time to step away and let someone else serve the needs of Fairhaven. I wish nothing but the best for those who continue to serve their community!
“Dan Freitas”
On December 13, 2020, Mr. Freitas sent an email with the subject line “Resignation,” to Town Administrator Mark Rees, Selectboard member Keith Silvia, Board of Health chairperson Peter DeTerra, and Assistant to the TA Vicki Oliveira.
He wrote:
“It is with deep regret that that I have to info you of my resignation. It has been a pleasure serving the town. My last day will be the Dec 21st meeting. I wish nothing but the best for those who continue to serve our community!
“Dan Freitas.”
The bylaw governing recalls is available online at https://ecode360.com/10417050?highlight=recall,recalled&searchId=5903479475723192#10417050
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