Recall submitted in Evermore CID board fight

The Gwinnett County Tax Commissioner’s office is reviewing signatures on petitions seeking a recall election for two members of a south Gwinnett business group paralyzed by board infighting for nearly two months.

The effort grows out of the December firing of the Evermore Community Improvement District’s economic development manager and a feeling among some board members that the group has paid too much attention to managing the reconstruction of U.S. 78 and not enough to economic development efforts. Members of the faction seeking the recall election say board members Ken Shiver and Dean Robinson should be replaced to break a 4-4 deadlock on the board over various issues.

Because the group was created by Gwinnett County and levies taxes on its members — commercial property owners along U.S. 78 between Stone Mountain and Snellville — the county tax commissioner’s office must certify that the recall effort has obtained signatures representing at least 20 percent of the group’s membership before the recall election can proceed. Tax commissioner’s spokeswoman Paula Martin said that work should be finished by Feb. 20.

If certified, an election would likely occur in March, recall organizers have said.