A city official in Clovis, New Mexico resigned Wednesday, citing incendiary comments made by the city's mayor about President Barack Obama.
Brent "Bud" DaBell, a local realtor who worked for Clovis' Planning and Zoning Commission, said he was considering pursuing a recall of Mayor David Lansford, who called Obama "the carnal manifestation of evil."
"Any belief that Mayor Lansford's position will not be a tipping point in future endeavors and government funding for Clovis ... can be nothing but naive," DaBell wrote in his letter of resignation, obtained by the Clovis News Journal. "I feel that my time can be spent more productively serving the city of Clovis by looking into the possibility of a recall election."
Lansford recently returned to the Clovis mayorship after a four-year break from city government. He was elected earlier this month in a landslide over incumbent Mayor Gayla Brumfield, marking his fourth term as mayor of the New Mexico city.
His re-election came just days after local news outlet KOB reported Lansford's affiliation with ATLAH Media Network, a New York-based religious and political group that holds controversial views on the president. Lansford reportedly traveled to New York for the group's mock trial of Obama for treason.
"It's a fact that the president's father was not an American citizen," Lansford told KOB. "He's not a natural born citizen."
The mayor also wrote several articles for ATLAH's website during his hiatus from Clovis' government. The articles outline some of Lansford's conspiracy theories about the president, including speculation that the CIA recruited Obama while he was a student at Occidental College.
"His background, language skills and physical characteristics made him ideal for the objectives of the CIA and it's [sic] role during the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan," wrote Lansford. "The CIA trained and equipped Obama to use whatever means necessary to achieve the desired outcome. Obama was tasked with providing arms, logistics and money to the Taliban."
DaBell, the resigning city official, has yet to start a recall effort, but others in Clovis are already supporting the proposed movement. Bobby Sandoval, a city commissioner, said he planned to demand that Lansford sever his ties with ATLAH.
"I believe that the present mayor is putting us in jeopardy of losing state and federal funds because of his personal beliefs," he said, adding that he would support any recall effort.