Efforts to remove Lawrence Mayor Brian DePena from his seat are moving forward as a recall petition awaits permission from the Clerk’s Office to move forward. DePena is currently facing numerous criminal charges at both the state and federal levels.
Tuesday night, Lawrence City Council approved a vote of “no confidence” in DePena’s leadership. But the vote does not give council the power to remove him from his seat.
Now some residents have stepped up to initiate a recall and believe they can get the thousands of signatures they need.
“There’s no other way we can remove the mayor, he already said that he’s not gonna resign,” Sarah Perez, organizer of the recall petition, said.
Perez filed a recall affidavit with more than 100 signatures from Lawrence residents at the Clerk’s Office last week. Once approved, she’ll have 30 days to get the 7,079 signatures needed to recall the mayor from his position.
“We have a team of people that are ready and eager to start collecting signatures,” Perez said.
“We want a mayor that better respects our needs and the things that we’re facing as citizens here,” Shakira Asuncion, a Lawrence resident, said.
Some Lawrence residents said aside from the 26 criminal charges DePena is facing, they also don’t believe he’s supporting the city’s needs.
“Lawrence is still a low-income city, it hasn’t stopped being a low-income city and this is his second term, and it seems like not much has changed,” Asuncion said.
Tuesday night, Lawrence City Council voted “no confidence” in DePena with five votes yes, one vote no, and three present.
“Now not only he has 26 different charges, but he also has a city council that is thinking twice about his leadership,” Jeovanny Rodriguez, President of Lawrence City Council, said.
Some of the state charges against the mayor include allegations he secretly recorded City Hall employees and shared the footage. He pleaded not guilty to those charges last week.
The federal charges accuse DePena of misuing $1.5 million in pandemic relief funds.
“It’s very concerning and a distraction for the community due to the fact that he’s gonna have to focus on that instead of focusing on his job,” Rodriguez said.
Boston 25 reached out to Mayor DePena’s Office for an interview, and they responded with no comment regarding city council’s vote of no confidence. DePena has previously stated he will not resign and the federal case involves business activities that happened before he became mayor.
Perez said she’s hoping to get the green light to move forward with her recall petition by this Friday.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
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