Purcellville residents push for removal of mayor, other lawmakers amid police department controversy

Purcellville residents push for removal of mayor, other lawmakers

There’s a push in Purcellville to recall the mayor and several other lawmakers who attempted to eliminate the town's police department. Even though they changed their votes after backlash, a group of residents are still moving forward with a recall petition.

PURCELLVILLE, Va. - There’s a push in Purcellville to recall the mayor and several other lawmakers who attempted to eliminate the town's police department. 

Even though they changed their votes after backlash, a group of residents are still moving forward with a recall petition. 

What we know:

Those top lawmakers include two council members, the town’s mayor and vice mayor. 

"Those 1,200 signatures show that the Purcellville, the citizens of Purcellville, united in our demand for leadership that serves the people, not a narrow agenda that's been pushed on us by deception, incompetence and misuse of office, plus a lot of grossly unethical behavior," said Brian Morgan, organizer of the Purcellville Town Council Recall Effort.

The vice mayor is under criminal investigation for originally voting to disband the police department shortly after being terminated by the department, allegedly making no effort to recuse himself from the vote. 

Brian Morgan is organizing the Purcellville Town Council recall effort.

Morgan, through his attorneys, filed a petition in Loudoun County’s circuit court this morning requesting four lawmakers be removed from their elected positions.

At a news conference this afternoon, Morgan says that group of four lawmakers are making decisions *without public input and *without the authority to do so.

Dig deeper:

FOX 5 obtained the petitions with thousands of signatures from residents reportedly in support of recalling mayor Christopher Bertaut, council member Carol Luke, council member Susan Khalil and council member and vice mayor Ben Nett.

FOX 5 spoke with a Purcellville resident who says neighbors are fed up.

"The reality is, they've united the town against them. we have people from all backgrounds, business owners, residents, all ages, all political affiliations, that have just said, hey, you guys are messing this up. we need you to do what's right for us, at the citizens. that's right, not what's right for you and your political ally," Purcellville resident Josh Shields said. 

The clerk will first verify the signatures, then the prosecutor's office will determine if there are grounds to move forward. If so, a judge will review the petitions, set a hearing date to hear all sides.

A lawmaker can be removed if evidence is shown they broke the law or misused their position.

What's next:

There is a council meeting Tuesday night at 6 p.m. focusing on the town’s budget.

FOX 5 has reached out to all four lawmakers for a response to the recall effort but have yet to hear back.