Fairmont group drafts recall petition for controversial City Councilmen

MARION COUNTY, W.Va (WDTV) -

Fairmont Councilman David Kennedy took to a local Facebook page to speak out against a recall petition against him and Councilman Barry Bledsoe.

Marion County residents started the petition to remove councilmen Kennedy and Bledsoe as a result of their controversial comments on social media over the past few months.

A group of 5 residents came together to start the process of a recall election.

The petition would allow citizens the chance to vote for the removal of Kennedy and Bledsoe from the council.

One organizer, David Ice said, they hope to get the recall on the ballot for November.

However, the city can hold a special election if they don’t get everything together in time.

Ice said city officials approved their petition. Now they’re waiting to get signature pages from the city attorney.

5 News reached out to Councilman Kennedy, he called the petition organizers ‘bullies.’

“It’s just a power grab. A subversive group wants to take over. They ran four people for office here in Marion County, and none were elected. If they can throw myself and Bledsoe out, nobody will come forward in the future to hold office. We stand against their bullying, and intend to stay in office, and give our best efforts for the city government of Fairmont, as we have in the past,” he said.

Ice said they started the petition to stand against hate.

“Hatred is what it is, and racism, and everything so that’s why we decided to do the recall petition,” he adds.

Ice said if anyone wants to sign the petition, they can reach out to him at recallchairman@gmail.com.

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