Recall effort underway in Arnold

ARNOLD (First Alert 4) -- A group of Arnold residents is circulating petitions to get a recall election to oust long-time mayor Ron Counts and eight city council members. Sarah Lurkins is a member of the group called “No Arnold Parkway.”

“If I were speaking to them today, I would say it’s because you didn’t do your job,” she said.

Initially, residents rose to oppose a proposal for a new north/south roadway called “Arnold Parkway.” The $75 million project would have displaced 38 homeowners and 10 businesses, some by eminent domain.

“I think on its face eminent domain is, I think it strikes people as wrong, as immoral,” said Lurkins.

In the wake of the opposition, city officials dropped plans for the new road. However, some residents accused city hall of a lack of transparency on the project and raised questions about plans to partially fund the road with taxes from the Arnold Retail Corridor Transportation Development District (ARC TDD).

The group started circulating petitions for a recall vote and is finding support in the community.

“I think the parkway was a huge waste of money, a huge overreach,” said Zach Velasco.

First Alert 4 reached out to Mayor Counts to gauge his reaction to the recall effort. As of the publication of this article, he had not responded.

Counts has been in office since 2009.

Two of the 8 city council members replied to an email seeking a comment. Ward 1 councilman Jason Fulbright wrote, “I’m aware of the recall campaigns and I fully support people using their voices to petition grievances against their elected leaders.”

EJ Fleischmann, also a ward 1 councilman, sent this statement:

“I fully support the residents of Arnold participating in the process and making their voices heard. I stand with them in their belief that the government should not be using eminent domain to take homeowners properties.”

Missouri law requires petitions to collect one-quarter of all registered voters, and there’s a time limit of 60 days, starting from the first day a petition is signed.

Lurkins said the group has only collected 20% of the signatures needed and has 40 days to collect the rest. A pep rally and petition signing event was held Tuesday in the parking lot of a shopping center at 2210 Michigan.

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