The recall petition for removing City Council member’s Wyatt and Harris has been withdrawn.  Howard Burnette who spearheaded the petition, delivered a letter to the Election Commission this morning asking for the petition to be withdrawn.  This just two four days before the petition had to be turned in with more than 2,225 signatures of bona fide city voters wishing to oust Wyatt and Harris.  Now it seems Mr. Burnette has turned his attention from Wyatt and Harris to Council member Jesse Kerley.  Burnette’s letter wasn’t simply asking for the petition to be withdrawn, but was full of commentary on why he was withdrawing the petition, and it had nothing to do with Council member Wyatt and Harris. In his letter,  Burnette made several unsubstantiated allegations against City Council member Jesse Kerley, stating “Kerley is out of control”.  He also cited a “terroristic nature of events on the property of a senior citizen, vandalism and theft of property by a hooded masked person of low moral character.”  Burnett never directly accuses Kerley of those events but makes the implication.  Burnette says Kerley made threatening actions toward him and his family.  He finishes by stating “I believe it is in the best interest of the safety of me and my family and for their protection I withdraw the recall petition.”  Council member Jesse Kerley, in responding to a Facebook post said  “Howard is a crony of Pete Souza who has tried to recall two elected officials based off twisting facts into negative propaganda. Now since they have had absolutely no support with their recall, I guess I will be his and Pete’s next target for speaking out against Souza and the damage he has done to the City of Crossville. This paints me to be a bully, which I am most definitely not. It is hard to bully the bully. The truth is I have not voted with Souza on attacking folks from my council seat and now this group has officially launched the beginning of their attacks on me. The witch hunts continue. I will say a prayer for Howard today for bearing false witness against me again.”

Councilman Danny Wyatt has issued a press release on the matter HERE