Gloucester residents initiate recall of mayor

Kirk's handling of 'pregnancy pact' tumult is cited

A dozen Gloucester residents representing several community groups have initiated a recall of Mayor Carolyn Kirk, saying her handling of the high school "pregnancy pact" brouhaha was the final straw in her failure to lead the city "fairly and effectively."

In a petition being circulated, the group also says the mayor has failed to ensure open government by refusing to investigate and prosecute waste and fraud, particularly in the police and public works departments.

Annette Dion, a 45-year-old private music teacher in Gloucester, said the resignation last week of Gloucester High principal Joseph Sullivan, a decision he said was based on what he termed slander by the mayor, was the boiling point in the group's built-up frustrations with Kirk's administration.

"We don't agree with Carolyn Kirk's style of leading the city," Dion said. "In many instances, she's not met with people who have asked. She's not really been very good with the public."

According to the city charter, the group needs to collect signatures from 20 percent of Gloucester's voters - or just more than 4,000 of the 20,672 registered voters - to hold a recall election. An election would have to take place 30 to 45 days after the city clerk certifies the signatures and presents the petition to the City Council.

In a statement yesterday, Kirk, who was elected in November, said, "Since taking office, I have ruffled feathers because it is not business as usual. I have had to make extraordinarily difficult decisions, but always, my motivation is what is best for the city as a whole."

The tumult over the high school pregnancies has been a sour note for the Kirk administration. The seaside city garnered worldwide media attention when Sullivan was quoted in Time magazine saying the spike in teen pregnancies in Gloucester was the result of a pact among several high school students to raise their babies together.

Kirk, hoping to defuse the media frenzy, held a news conference in June to rebut Sullivan's statements, saying the principal was "foggy in his memory of how he heard about the information," and that when pressed for specifics, "his memory failed."

Sullivan later defended his assertion that the girls' pregnancies were intentional, although he couldn't recall whether he used the word "pact."

On Tuesday, he resigned, saying the mayor had "publicly slandered my reputation, my integrity, and my intelligence" by saying his memory failed.

Sullivan said in his resignation letter that he had been forced "to recognize that I have neither the trust, confidence, or respect of the mayor nor the superintendent."

Kirk said in her statement yesterday that the controversy over the pregnancies still tears at the city, exposing "all the rifts, prejudices, and ideological extremes that exist in our community.

"For my part, I made a choice to come to the defense of the privacy of Gloucester teenagers and their families," the mayor said. "Gloucester now more than ever needs courageous leadership."

Dion said Sullivan's resignation is the latest consequence of the mayor's refusal to listen, particularly to community concerns. She said groups were already frustrated with the mayor's support of Gloucester Crossing, a mixed-use development project of assisted-living units and retail space off Route 128. Those supporting the recall include representatives from Save Cape Ann, an online community forum, and Citizens for Public Safety, which has campaigned for more resources in the police and fire departments.

Members of Citizens for Public Safety had initiated a recall before, of Mayor John Bell in 2006. That initiative failed.