Recall Stephen Tocco!

In a nutshell, Mr. Tocco was removed from office by a margin of about 4 to 1. Over 78% of the votes cast were for removal. The total number of votes cast, including absentee votes, was 3,430. For a special election, this is actually quite high. Typical turnout for a special might be from 1,500 to 2,200. There was quite a lot of interest in this issue.

The total YES votes were 2,691 and the total NO were 739.

Here is a breakdown by polling place:

High School YES 412 NO 157
Housing Authority YES 275 NO 52
Anna McCabe YES 614 NO 242

Today is recall election day. After 3,000 signatures were collected, and after 60 days of campaigning, Smithfield will finally get to make its decision.

So the question then, is, why should Mr. Tocco be removed? There are many specific actions he took that demonstrate he lacks the judgment, temperament and moral compass needed to lead our town. Many of these are detailed here, and more will be added. However, all these actions amount to a pattern of behavior that is simply not acceptable in Smithfield.

We have pointed out that Mr. Tocco's signs violate our zoning regulations. We have not seen any signs supporting this recall effort and, more importantly, we have not put any up.

Not all signs violate zoning just because they are signs. It is possible that some people put up signs supporting this recall effort and we appreciate that. We urge anyone who does that to make sure their sign meets zoning.

Stephen Tocco committed perjury by deliberately failing to disclose his ownership of "40 Corp," a Rhode Island for profit construction company.

Each year, all public officials, whether elected or appointed, must complete a disclosure form. The form asks officials to detail their employment relationships as well as their interests in businesses. Mr. Tocco has owned this corporation since 1995 and has been its President since at least 2004.

The Providence Journal North section for Friday, November 9, has an excellent historical outline of the Tocco recall issues. It is not complete, of course, since press space is limited, but it conveys the essence well. This article is here:

http://www.projo.com/ri/smithfield/content/NO_SMITHFIELD_RECALL09_11-09-...

If you’re still on the fence, we suggest you have a look at this article.

On November 6th, any person or entity, of any type, that had spent at least $1,000 promoting or opposing a ballot question, was legally mandated to file a report describing their revenue and expenses, similar to what a candidate has to file before an election.

If you need a ride to the polls on election day, let us know. We're happy to help. You can email us at info@RecallTocco.com or call us at 648 2137. Leave a message with your name, phone number and address and we'll call you up to arrange a time.

Due to the tremendous pressure put on him for his overdue reports, Tocco finally filed.

His campaign Treasurer has once again experienced a miraculous transformation of her signature. After about three years of her signature being stable and not matching the document she signed before a notary, we now see that her signature once again resembles that original signature. Go figure...

A “push poll” is a technique used to try to trick a voter into voting a particular way. For example, an organization makes phone calls to voters posing as researchers taking a poll. They ask relatively ordinary questions, and then they start to plant seeds by saying things that sound like questions, but are really statements. For example, a push poll question might be:

Would you vote for Mr. Doe is you knew he cheated on his wife?

UPDATE: This billboard has been moved off of Wendy's property!

Many people have complained to us that there is a very large anti-recall, pro-Tocco sign in the Wendy’s parking lot along RT 44 in Smithfield.

On Thursday evening, we contacted that store to lodge a complaint about Wendy’s supporting Mr. Tocco. We spoke with Bob, who is the General Manager of that restaurant. When told of the complaint, he denied there was any such sign on his property. He was advised to look out his front window and, upon doing so, he was quite surprised to see the sign.