Waldport Council Recall Petition Denied By County Clerk

The Lincoln County Clerk informed the City of Waldport that the recall petitions for the

six council members failed to meet the legal petition recall requirements. The county

determined that ORS 260.567, which prohibits the modification of the petition signature

lines by other than the signer, was violated, which invalidated the petitions. According to chief petitioner Tony Thimakis, in a letter dated November 10, 2025, Lincoln County Clerk, Amy Southwell states that after she and Lincoln County Counsel “had a closer look at the laws, it seems ORS 260.567 was unintentionally violated by the petition gatherers."

Since there were six recall petitions some who signed the recall did not put their address on each of the petitions, only one and then they were filled in by the volunteer on the other sheets. This was information like address and zip code. Southwell stated that because of this she could not determine which, if any, voters requested help due to a disability. Ms. Southwell stated that she and her team looked over each signature thoroughly and although most matched, the law is clear that the voter needed to initial if someone helped them with their information on the petition, and no initials appeared on the petitions.

Megan Torres, the Waldport city recorder was notified of the findings from the county clerk's office. Upon notification of the deficiency, Torres, the chief election officer for the city, had no option other than to declare that the petition failed under Oregon law. City manager Dann Cutter stated “This is a clear case of election law violations by the petitioner and a select group of circulators,” stated city manager Dann Cutter. “I am grateful the county took the integrity of the process so diligently, as obviously there are distractions everywhere."

Mr. Thimakis defended the process ”Myself and the other petition gatherers utilized the advice and guidance of the County Clerk and proceeded in good faith.  We were told that it is okay to help signatories complete the cumbersome petitions.  Given that the median age of the residents of Waldport is 64 years, many required some assistance in filling out their address and other pertinent information on all but one of the six petitions."

He added "We ask that this minor technicality be dismissed as each signature on each petition is valid and the City Recorder’s decision to delegitimize the petitions suggest otherwise." Thimakis added he will be requesting an opportunity to defend the process they utilized to facilitate the participation of the citizens who signed in good faith and explain this technicality, and give an opportunity to prove that there was no intentional violation of ORS 260.567. Thimakis said they will be filing and appeal and if they have to do it again they will but he is hoping that it is something that can be overlooked as an unintentional mistake.

The recall effort originated from the ousting of Mayor Lambert after just three months into her term and growing concerns over the actions of the city manager, and lack of oversight by the 6 council members. According to Thimakis, “It started with the mayor and them illegally removing her from office and then failing to admit they've done anything wrong. They've incurred a healthy legal expense to defend a position that was unjustifiable.”