This led to council members joining the recall drive.

If anything, these incidents fueled the recall drive even more.

A successful recall drive with petitions of some 50,000 signatures, lead to the first recall election in the city's history.

The recall drive failed to produce the required 18,000 signatures within 180 days.

But he criticized the recall drive as a waste of money and an effort by his opponents to "take endless bites at the apple."

Following Powell's election in 2010, a recall drive was initiated against the mayor and four members of the city council.

"This thing isn't a boll-weevil eradication program," said one leader of the recall drive.

Republican leaders in the Legislature insist that their position on the budget is not tied to the recall drive.

He was forced to resign in the wake of a recall drive due to dishonesty that marked his administration.

Some political experts believe a "perfect storm" of circumstances led to the success of the recall drive.