More than two-thirds of the signatures on petitions to recall three members of the Cortez Sanitation District were rejected, meaning the recall effort has failed, at least initially.

However, critics of the district say they aren’t finished.

"We have determined we are not going to give up," said Fred Thomas, a local engineer and one of the drive’s organizers.

Two weeks ago, the recall’s organizers turned in three petitions seeking the recall of district-board members Stan Pierce, Jim Bridgewater and Sam Jarvis. Two other board members are not being targeted for recall.

Election official Kent Williamson, attorney for the sanitation district and the appointed election official in the recall, examined the petitions and signatures for their validity and compliance with state law.

On Tuesday, at the end of the 10-working-day period allowed for checking the signatures, Williamson ruled that they fell far short of the 300 required to force a recall election.

He said there were 164 valid signatures to recall Pierce, 155 to recall Bridgewater, and 152 to recall Jarvis. Organizers had said they had collected 494 signatures apiece on Pierce and Bridgewater, and 485 on Jarvis.

Some of the reasons signatures were rejected, Williamson said Wednesday, were:

• The person signing was not a registered voter;

• Someone else had written in an address for the person signing;

• The person did not live in or own property in the sanitation district;

• The person signed a name, such as a nickname, other than the name under which he was registered to vote;

• The person who circulated the petition didn’t fill out or date the circulator affidavit correctly.

But the most common reason signatures were ruled invalid, Williamson said, was problems with addresses.

"The biggest one was improper and incomplete addresses," he said. "It might say, ‘Box 10’ and nothing else." Signers needed to state that they lived in Cortez, Colo., he said, and many did not, as the petitions simply had a space headed "address."

Thomas said the results were disappointing, but supporters of the recall were hoping to salvage the effort.

"Most of the rejections were technicalities," he said. "Erin (Johnson, attorney for the recall’s organizers) told me that, had we just put the ‘Cortez’ space on the petition, we would have had the 300 signatures easily."

He said he hoped to gather the circulators again and get them to collect more signatures by Aug. 3.

"We want all the people who went out and got signatures to come back and pick up new petitions," he said. "This time we’ll make sure all the T’s are crossed and the I’s dotted. We’re going to be really beating the bushes to get 150 more signatures." Persons wanting to sign the petitions can also come to his office at 432 N. Broadway, he said.

Thomas said he was going to check to see whether persons whose signatures had been rejected for technicalities could sign again.

Those seeking the recall have criticized the sanitation district for its practice of disconnecting sewer pipes for long-delinquent accounts and charging $500 or $4,000 to have them reconnected. Last week, the district board voted 4-1 to try putting liens on delinquent properties instead.

But that measure failed to satisfy the board’s critics.

Don Etnier, a local builder and another backer of the recall, said, "If it weren’t for the recall, they wouldn’t have done it. None of the things they’re doing now would have been done without the recall threat."

The district’s critics also say its regulations are unnecessarily stringent and working with the district is difficult and adversarial.

"All it does for the average Joe is drive up the cost of building," Etnier said. "For anybody trying to do any kind of work with the city, the cost is skyrocketing, but it doesn’t produce a better product."

But the board says its disconnection policy, although unpopular, was fair because sewers weren’t cut without giving persons a long time to pay and a chance to plead for leniency.

The board also says its regulations are simply meant to ensure the smooth operation of the city’s sewer system.