In the wake of embattled San Diego Mayor Bob Filner’s resignation, the campaign to recall Filner is now winding down, a recall organizer confirmed on Saturday.
According to recall co-organizer Rachel Laing, the campaign has now asked its 1,200 volunteers to return all signed petitions in their possession to recall headquarters located at 7185 Navajo Road, Suite P.
Once all petitions are returned, Laing says recall organizers will be able to get an accurate and final tally of all of the signatures collected during the effort before properly disposing of the petitions.
Watch: Mayor Filner's Resignation, Part I
"We are extremely proud of and grateful to the army of hard-working volunteers who collected tens of thousands of signatures in just five days," said Recall Bob Filner campaign chair Michael Pallamary in statement released Saturday. "We believe the overwhelming response by an outraged public and the very real threat of a recall helped push Filner to resign.”
"In addition to the extraordinary men and women who supported the recall, our city owes an enormous debt of gratitude to the courageous women who came forward to speak out about the harassment and abuse they suffered at the hands of Mayor Filner. We salute these brave women," he continued.
Laing says financial disclosure for the Recall Bob Filner campaign committee will be filed upon its termination, which is expected to occur by the end of September.
Earlier this week Laing told NBC 7 that people who donated to the recall effort will not get refunds, as the $100,000 collected for the campaign was already spent on volunteer infrastructure.
“There's no pot of money lying around,” Laing said.
Watch: Mayor Filner's Resignation, Part II
On Friday – right before Filner announced his resignation in front of the San Diego City Council – Laing was one of approximately 40 speakers who took the podium during the public comments phase of the special council meeting.
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At that time, Laing told the council that more than 1,200 recall volunteers had collected more than 20,000 signatures in just five days.
Mike McCormack, brother of Irene McCormack Jackson, the mayor’s former office employee who has filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against Filner, also spoke at the meeting about the effort to recall the mayor.
“As citizens we have the right to vote and we have the right to recall,” said McCormack. “Please be confident that the people of San Diego will successfully recall Bob Filner.”
McCormack also noted that he had collected 524 signatures on his own.
Again, petitions can now be returned to recall headquarters at the following address:
Recall Bob Filner
7185 Navajo Road, Suite P
San Diego, CA 92119
