Greeley residents overwhelmingly voted to recall embattled Councilman LeRoy Johnson on Tuesday, but his successor won only a narrow victory.
Of the 1,340 votes cast, 977 favored recalling Johnson, who has had run-ins with the law and came under fire for comments made at a public hearing about a neighborhood having “some pretty good-looking women” living there.
Voters chose 57-year-old Janet Bran- ham, a retired crime analyst for the Greeley police, to replace Johnson.
Branham garnered 403 votes, edging out Tom Chagolla, who received 313 votes, and two other candidates.
“I think Janet will do a good job – any of the four candidates would have done a good job,” said Chagolla, 58, who is the executive director for the local Habitat for Humanity. “The main thing that was accomplished tonight is that there was a change of leadership.
“By recalling Mr. Johnson, voters showed that they want a new direction and new leadership. And I think all four candidates running to fill the seat had that same common denominator.”
Johnson and Branham could not be reached for comment.
Police cited Johnson for harassment in 1993 and 1998 after physical confrontations he was involved in outside the Greeley Mall.
In March 2005, he reported to police that a Russian woman whom he met through a dating service and hoped to marry was missing after she left him.
In May, Johnson pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct after fighting with a boyfriend of his former girlfriend in Northglenn.
In July, during a six-hour hearing on a proposal to give the Cranford area historic-designation status, Johnson remarked about the neighborhood’s women to a packed City Council chamber.
Area residents were outraged.
The district proposal failed, with Johnson voting against the idea.
He said after the incident that he only wanted to “inject some humor into the proceedings.”
Residents started a recall campaign a short time later, and during the controversy, his scrapes with the law came to light.
