A petition to recall Brighton Mayor Ken Kreutzer was deemed valid by the city Monday after it was determined that recall backers submitted a sufficient number of signatures.

The petition was submitted Aug. 5 by a public committee that organized after the firing of City Manager Philip Rodriguez in July.

Recall backers earlier said they submitted the signatures of 1,782 Brighton residents, 646 more than the 1,136 signatures required for a special election.

Recall opponents have until Aug. 20 to challenge its validity. City officials have said the recall election likely will be held during the regularly scheduled Nov. 5 election.

Supporters claim that the firing of Rodriguez was retribution for him investigating potential overcharges on water and sewer bills leading to an excess of $70 million dollars in the utility fund.

Kreutzer has insisted the water-billing matter had nothing to do with Rodriguez’s firing, which was by a 5-4 vote of the city council, although he did say he had lost faith in Rodriguez.

Kreutzer is the first elected official in Brighton’s 132-year history to face recall, according to a release on the recall committee’s website.

“The rapid success of this effort and the overwhelming response of the city to this first-ever recall initiative sends a clear message that this mayor has lost the confidence of the people of Brighton and should step down,” said Jeremy Torgerson, a recall committee member, in the release.

9News contributed.

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