Efforts to recall two of the District’s top leaders will face a two-week delay, after the city activist who filed paperwork to begin the process failed to show up at a D.C. Board of Elections and Ethics hearing Wednesday.

Frederick Butler submitted a notice of intent Jan. 11 to call for a special election offering voters a chance to boot alumnus and Mayor Vincent Gray and D.C. Council Chairman Kwame Brown. But his absence from Wednesday’s hearing prompted the board to postpone recall talks, and Butler said he will pick up petitions to distribute Feb. 13, DCist reported.

Butler said he was at his job during the hearing and the individual who was supposed to have represented his party didn’t show up.

In his recall notice, he cited “unethical behavior” by Gray and Brown. The officials each responded to the allegations with lists of their accomplishments and goals.

Gray said he finds it “ill-advised” to hold a recall “given the cost entailed in holding a city wide special election and the progress the Gray administration is making in a number of areas critical to the future of our city.”

For the recall initiative to hit the ballot, Butler must collect signatures from at least 10 percent of the District’s voters – more than 45,000 people – in 180 days.