Every member of the Ann Arbor City Council who recently voted in favor of killing deer now has, politically speaking, a target on his or her back.

Sabra Sanzotta, who filed recall petition paperwork this week targeting 2nd Ward representative Kirk Westphal, said she's only getting started, and she and other deer advocates are taking steps to initiate recall efforts in other wards.

Sanzotta, leader of a group called Save the Deer Ann Arbor, said they're planning to file petitions to recall every council member up for re-election in 2016 over what they consider an unnecessary deer slaughter and an appalling use of violence.

That includes Sumi Kailasapathy in the 1st Ward, Westphal in the 2nd Ward, Julie Grand in the 3rd Ward, Graydon Krapohl in the 4th Ward, and Chuck Warpehoski in the 5th Ward. All of them voted for the deer cull last month.

Sanzotta said in a statement the group wants to replace the existing council with a more representative, data-driven, humane team of leaders.

"For those council members who can't be recalled, their re-election campaigns will be much more difficult next year, as this group of deer-friendly residents is now standing up and united to restore Ann Arbor's image and reputation as a progressive, non-violent, tolerant, educated democracy," she said.

The City Council voted 10-1 in November in favor of hiring sharpshooters to kill 100 deer in city parks this winter, a move opposed by Sanzotta and other animal rights advocates who argue there's no justification for a cull.

Mayor Christopher Taylor was the lone dissenting vote, citing a lack of community consensus on the issue.

Other council members acknowledged they were making a controversial decision that was bound to upset some residents, but they believe it's necessary to bring the deer population down and restore balance to the ecosystem. Residents in neighborhoods with higher concentrations of deer have been complaining in recent years about increasing damage to their landscaping and gardens. Council members also are concerned about damage to the city's natural areas, and the risk of deer-car crashes and Lyme disease.

An aerial survey earlier this year counted 168 deer in areas in and around the city of Ann Arbor.

Per state law, council members who just started new two-year terms in November cannot be subject to a recall until after six months into their terms.

That means petitions can't be filed at this time against Sabra Briere in the 1st Ward, Jane Lumm in the 2nd Ward or Jack Eaton in the 4th Ward.

Two other members who just joined council -- Zachary Ackerman in the 3rd Ward and Chip Smith in the 5th Ward -- weren't on council for the deer cull vote.

The county's Election Commission plans to meet on Dec. 17 to determine whether the recall petition language targeting Westphal is of sufficient clarity and factuality to allow Sanzotta to proceed with collecting signatures.

Sanzotta would need to collect at least 1,791 signatures from registered 2nd Ward voters within 60 days to force a special May runoff election ahead of the August primary, in which Westphal already will be up for re-election.

As a 2nd Ward resident, Sanzotta cannot personally file recall petitions against council members in other wards, so she'll be relying on allies in other parts of the city to step forward and file recall petitions against their council members.

Sanzotta said her group has been meeting weekly and they will be deciding this coming Sunday who will be filing the petitions in the different wards.

If they get clearance from the Election Commission to proceed and if they're successful in collecting enough signatures in each ward, there would be a special runoff election in May and each council member being targeted -- all Democrats -- would appear on the ballot as the Democratic candidate in his or her ward.

In each ward, there would be an opportunity for one Republican Party nominee and any independent candidates to step forward to challenge the incumbent for a chance to finish out his or her current term ending in November.

With or without a recall, the normal 2016 election cycle will continue with a primary in August and a general election in November for the next two-year term starting in November, and council members being targeted plan to seek re-election then.

Sanzotta said she doesn't have any candidates lined up to challenge any of the council members being targeted for recall.

"That's step two," she said. "We'll work on that if we even get to the point where the recall petition language is approved."

Council members being targeted said on Thursday they consider a recall part of the democratic process and it's anybody's right to challenge them.

"On the other hand, I'm already up for re-election in 2016," Warpehoski said. "I don't see any cull-related votes coming up between now and the time when the election would take place, so I don't see how this is going to help advance their agenda."

Though it's caused a lot of controversy, Warpehoski said he still believes the council's 10-1 vote in favor of culling deer was the right one from an ecological standpoint.

If he's removed from office for standing up for ecological diversity in the city's natural areas, he said, he'll leave with a clean conscience.

Westphal offered similar remarks regarding ecological balance. He also said he respects the democratic process.

"That being said, in my experience, recalls tend to be used when there's some kind of extreme behavior problem, not necessarily a consensus vote on a small budget item," he said of the $35,000 deer cull contract. "So, the inference that 10 out of 11 council members are unfit to serve, well, I suppose I disagree."

Westphal said other communities have kicked the can down the road to avoid controversy when faced with the question of culling deer.

"But that's not why I ran for council," he said. "I'm not serving to avoid hard decisions. I'm serving to reflect the will of my constituents."

Westphal and Grand both observed that council members serve relatively short terms, so they'd prefer to see the normal election process play out.

Grand said it seems "a little redundant" to force a special May runoff election ahead of the already scheduled August primary and November general election.

"So, I think this is more about their own messaging than about us as individual candidates," she said.

Commenting on the deer cull vote, she added: "It was a decision we made 10-1 based on a year-long process that included significant public input, that included looking very seriously into nonlethal methods and best practices, and listening to staff recommendations ... and the outcome was almost unanimous."

Grand said she'll defend her position on culling deer and compete in a special May runoff election if it comes to that, but she thinks there are more productive ways to have that conversation and better ways to be focusing energy.

In addition to making recall threats, Sanzotta, who moved to Ann Arbor this summer, is threatening to bring a lawsuit against the city to stop the cull. She has started a GoFundMe.com webpage to raise funds for legal costs.

As of Thursday afternoon, the fundraising page had 666 shares on social media and had raised $2,510, with a goal of $20,000.

Save the Deer is planning to work with attorney Catherine Wolfe to bring forward litigation and has retained a wildlife specialist with specific experience in animal law, according to the group's fundraising page.

"We will challenge the process that led to the decision by City Council, and ensure that it was done according to all applicable procedural law, and we will challenge the validity of their conclusions, using verifiable facts from experts," the page states.

Sanzotta said between 60 and 100 people have been showing up to the group's weekly meetings. She declined to disclose where they're being held.

"It seems to be the group is more organized, there are more volunteers, and financial resources are being put together," she said.

In a statement released on Thursday, Sanzotta accused council members of ignoring experts who have documented success with deer fertility control programs.

"They pursue their plans to squander taxpayer money on a lethal plan that has only been proven ineffective at reducing the deer population, while putting the human residents in peril from stray bullets and bolting, bloody deer," she said.

"But now the grass roots movement has grown dramatically -- against sharpshooters in our parks at night, to let facts and data prevail, and to find a more humane way of dealing with the deer that share our parks and forests."

Ryan Stanton covers the city beat for The Ann Arbor News. Reach him at ryanstanton@mlive.com.