Hayes Pulls Recall Suit Against City

Kootenai County Clerk Cliff Hayes has withdrawn his lawsuit against the city of Coeur d’Alene, seeking to clarify the deadline date for the attempted recall of Coeur d’Alene Mayor Sandi Bloem and three council members, Deanna Goodlander, Woody McEvers and Mike Kennedy. Acting on behalf of Hayes, Prosecutor Barry McHugh wrote to Coeur d’Alene counsel Michael L. Haman that Hayes was swayed by an opinion issued by Secretary of State Ben Ysursa on May 1. Ysursa said that a city recall attempt, including verification of signatures by the clerk’s office, must be complete within 75 days (June 19, in this case). According to McHugh’s letter, Hayes plans to turn over all verified signatures by the June 19 deadline but will continue to count additional signatures beyond that deadline to complete his duty (in case the law is interpreted differently than Ysursa suggests). You can read McHugh’s letter & supporting documents here .

Question: Does this mean the community’s conspiracy theorists will say that Hayes has gone over to the other side?