Woodmen Hills Metro District board member to face recall ballot

A three-person recall committee has submitted enough signatures to trigger a recall election of Woodmen Hills Metro District Board Member Janice Pizzi.

The district provides thousands of residents in the Falcon area with streetlighting, parks and recreation, water, and wastewater service.

Pizzi, one of five board members, is accused of voting to lease a $150,000 vacuum truck that the "district didn't need" and supporting the district's involvement in a civil lawsuit about covenants, among other things, petitioners charge.

"Janice L. Pizzi has demonstrated her lack of commitment to this community by supporting poor decisions on these matters," the petition said.

On Wednesday the El Paso County Clerk and Recorder's Office ruled Citizens Action Recall Committee had collected the 300 signatures required for a recall election. The committee consists of Martha Wallner, Ronald Pace and Joanne Seeker, all of Peyton.

Campaign finance reports show Pace as the committee's only source of money. He's given $754 since the group was formed in March.

None of the committee members could be reached for comment. Pizzi did not respond to an e-mail seeking comment.

The district's Web site says Pizzi, who runs a travel business, moved to Woodmen Hills from the Boston area in 2003 with her husband, Mike, a retired police officer.

She is serving her first term and became president of the board in December, a district employee said.

"I want to make Woodmen Hills a great place to live and raise a family," Pizzi states on the district's Web site.

Like all governments, the district has been faced with declining revenues due to the economy. The board cut about $800,000 from its budget of roughly $5 million, according to financial statements on its Web site.

Liz Olson, the county's election manager, said the next step is a 15-day protest period during which district voters can challenge petition signatures as invalid. If the petitions are held to be sufficient, the district board would schedule an election.

Because of legal requirements, the election won't be held in conjunction with the Nov. 3 coordinated election, Olson said.

Olson's office will handle the election but the district will pay the cost, estimated at about $15,000 for a mail ballot and more if the district's 4,000 voters go to polling places.

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