GLOUCESTER , Mass., Aug. 18 (UPI) -- The mayor of a Massachusetts town where 17 high school girls allegedly agreed to get pregnant and raise their babies together is the target of a recall.
The recall petition against Gloucester Mayor Carolyn Kirk emerged after the Massachusetts school's principal announced his resignation, ABC News reported Monday.
The network reported that the recall petition is being circulated by a dozen residents who are outraged at Sullivan's resignation and the mayor's handling of the scandal, which thrust the city into the national spotlight.
The recall petition claims Kirk slandered the principal and failed to lead the city.
"Carolyn Kirk is out of touch with this community and doesn't understand our needs, and it was absolutely unfair the way that she treated Joe Sullivan," Annette Dion, a 45-year-old private music teacher in Gloucester, was quoted as saying.
To qualify the recall, proponents must gather more than 4,000 signatures from the town's 20,672 registered voters.
In a statement, Kirk said she handled the scandal appropriately.
"For my part, I made a choice to come to the defense of the privacy of Gloucester teenagers and their families," the mayor said. "Gloucester now more than ever needs courageous leadership."
