Group of Bismarck citizens push for petition to recall Mayor Mike Seminary

A group of Bismarck citizens has submitted a petition to the Secretary of State to have the format of a recall petition approved to recall Bismarck Mayor Mike Seminary.

The group Better Leadership 4A Better Bismarck says Seminary should be recalled for many reasons. They say one of the main reasons is that he pushed ahead on the Event Center expansion.

A member of the group, Paul Maloney, says a catalyst to recall was when Seminary said in September he personally stood in solidarity with Dakota Access Pipeline protesters.

In response to the recall petition, Mayor Seminary says:

I understand that the citizens have a right to petition to recall an elected official. It doesn’t make a lot of sense to me to go through this process and the expense of a special election when, by the time a special election on this issue could be held, I will have less than a year left on my term. A regular City election for the office of mayor will be held in June of 2018 and, if I were to decide to run again, the issue could be decided then without any additional expense.

If the petition is approved 1,898 signatures are needed to recall Seminary. Someone would then need to run against Seminary in the recall election.

The Secretary of State has five to seven business days to approve the format of the petition. Seminary's term ends in 2018.