Amador County – Former Ione City Councilman James Ulm, and a local business owner Dale Haney filed last week as the only two candidates who are vying to replace Ione Mayor David Plank, who is being sought for removal from his city council position in a special recall election in February.

The filing period for the replacement candidates ended 5 p.m. Friday. Amador County Elections Supervisor Deborah Smith said that only two packets of filing papers had been taken out from the Amador County Elections Department office in Jackson (as of noon Friday). She said all filing papers were disseminated from the Elections office for this special election, and not from Ione City Hall, because the papers have to be filed at the Elections office.

Smith said all candidates, including Plank and the replacement candidates, had the option to file a statement to be attached to the ballots in the election. The ballot will also include the recall petition statement.

The recall was circulated by a group calling itself “The Voice in Ione,” which announced a notice of the intent to petition the recall on June 21, and needed about 525 signatures to place the recall question on the ballot. It returned the adequate, valid signatures, causing the Ione City Council to place the question of the recall on the ballot, and set the special election.

James Ulm is a former Ione City Council member, elected in 2006. He was unsuccessful in a 2010 bid for one of three seats up for election, among a field of six candidates. Ulm received 514 votes, good for fourth place in the election, finishing behind current Vice Mayor Ron Smylie, and Councilmen Lloyd Oneto and Daniel Epperson.

Smith said Dale Haney is a local business owner, and Ulm is an electrician. She said Ulm and Haney both completed the necessary paperwork to file their nomination papers and will be candidates on the ballot. A candidate must be a registered voter in Ione. The election of a successor will be contingent upon the recall of the officer. If Plank is recalled, the winning replacement candidate would need a simple majority of the votes to take over the position.

Plank was elected to his first term in 2008, and was second in voting to Councilwoman Andrea Bonham, in a three-candidate run for two positions. He currently serves as Chairman of the Amador County Transportation Commission.

Election officials estimated the cost of the election would be $6,000 to $8,000. Ione has 2,100 voters eligible to vote in the Feb. 28 recall election.

Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.