Donigan recall petition OK’d by Election Commission

By Jeremy Carroll and Jeremy Adragna
C & G Staff Writers

MADISON HEIGHTS — State Rep. Marie Donigan, D-Madison Heights, plans to appeal a petition filed in Oakland County by a Royal Oak resident that wants her recalled from the Michigan House.

If recall organizers gather enough signatures in the next three months, voters could be asked on a 2008 ballot if they want to remove Donigan from office.

Donigan, who is in her second term as a representative and was previously a member of the Royal Oak City Commission, is being targeted for a recall for voting for an income tax increase and the increase to sales tax on certain services called for in House Bills 5194 and 5198, according to the petition sheet.

Donigan represents the 26th district, which covers both Royal Oak and Madison Heights. She is one of 13 legislators in the state being targeted for recall for their votes during the recent budget crunch, according to a Web site monitoring and supporting the recalls, www.michiganrecalls.com.

Donigan contends the language of the petition is incomplete and should include more information, if not the entire language of the two bills, in order for potential petition signers to make an informed decision.

“The bill goes on to say that there are a series of rollbacks to the current rate by 2011,” said Donigan. “They didn’t put in the whole bill. My attorney argued that the voter needs to have all the information they need to make an informed decision.”

Complicating the matter further is a vote that Donigan and other legislators cast in early November to strike down the new service tax and income tax increase and replace them with a surcharge on the Michigan Business Tax.

A group called Taxpayers to Recall State Representative Donigan is pushing the recall effort. Royal Oak resident Bret Moon heads the political action committee, according to campaign finance records.

Moon said the group is upset at the judgment Donigan made to raise taxes on Michigan families during tough economic conditions.

“She needs to know there are consequences to her actions,” he said.

Moon said he wouldn’t answer further questions about the group, only saying they have yet to start collecting signatures.

Donigan has questioned the legitimacy of the group that is attempting to have her recalled, saying that Moon was not old enough to vote in the last election and that he is being backed by an anti-tax organization based in another state.

“They don’t have that much standing here in the district,” said Donigan. “They just like to come in and try to disrupt things. They want to tell people in Royal Oak and Madison Heights how to govern themselves. They elected me to do that in Lansing.”

According to state campaign finance records, the committee was formed Oct. 27, two days before the recall language was filed with the county. The group was granted a reporting waiver, meaning they don’t expect to receive or expend more than $1,000 in a calendar year.

According to the state bureau of elections, the language, once approved, is valid for 180 days. However, all the signatures on the petitions have to be collected within a 90-day period from registered voters from Donigan’s district.

In 2006, Donigan easily cruised to re-election, defeating Republican Kevin Konczal by nearly a 2-to-1 margin. She will be term-limited and unable to run again for the Michigan House in 2008.

Recall organizers must collect more than 9,000 valid signatures to have the wording placed on an upcoming ballot.