Cotati recall election will cost $25,000

A recall election for Cotati City Councilman George Barich will cost the city about $5,000 more than expected and be held at least two weeks later than planned.

An obscure public meeting law that prevented the City Council from approving the election this week is to blame for the added expense and delay, City Manager Dianne Thompson said.

Now, instead of holding the election on Nov. 3 along with several other minor races around the county, the recall likely will be on a different Tuesday, sometime between Nov. 17 and Dec. 15, said Gloria Colter, the county?s assistant registrar of voters.

Cotati will have to pay extra for the separate election, raising the total cost of asking voters to oust Barich to about $25,000, Colter said.

Barich has been at the center of several controversies since taking office late last year.

Critics accuse the former gadfly of misusing city stationery to write President Obama and posting a racially charged picture on his personal Web site.

His lone no vote prevented the council from putting a half-cent sales tax measure on the November ballot. City officials said it was needed to keep the city solvent. Cotati city employees later agreed to a 15 percent pay cut.

Earlier this summer, political foes began gathering signatures to force a recall election. They succeeded in collecting the required number, had them certified by county elections officials and were seeking final approval from the council on Wednesday.

State law requires council sign-off at least 88 days before an election.

However, because the meeting was a special meeting called to approve new employee contracts, the council could not vote on the matter.

Instead, it will take up the issue at its regular meeting Wednesday.

Potential replacement candidates also are expected to go before voters, but so far, no one has annouced a candidacy. The nomination period opens after the council calls the election.

Some have suggested former Cotati police officer Mike Kurvers might seek the spot. He lost to Barich in last year?s election by a five-vote margin.