In the News...

Recall proponents launch new petition
GRAND TERRACE: The initial effort to remove two from the City Council was invalidated.
10:00 PM PDT on Tuesday, June 6, 2006
By JULIE FARRENThe Press-Enterprise

A group of citizens seeking to recall the Grand Terrace mayor and a council member has gathered 20 more signatures since the city clerk determined last week that the first petition was invalid.

City Clerk Brenda Mesa sent the recall proponents a certified letter Thursday, saying that the petition needed to include printed names, signatures and residential addresses to comply with the state Election Code.

Resident Bill Hays, who served Mayor Maryetta Ferre and Councilwoman Lee Ann Garcia with the recall notices at the May 25 council meeting, agreed with Mesa.

"We didn't have the area (on the petition) for the printed name," Hays said.

The new petition will not be considered valid until the elected officials have been served again, said Tracey Martinez, deputy city clerk.

Hays said that he has been besieged with phone calls from residents who want to sign the petition.

The petitions accuse Ferre and Garcia of various actions ranging from holding secret meetings to exposing the city to litigation by approving unnecessary developments. (This is not quite a fair representation of the Wording)

(Actual Wording Is ............................
The grounds for the recall are as follows: It is our belief that you have failed to fulfill the responsibilities of your office by being fiscally irresponsible and disregarding the lives and safety of our citizens. It is our perception that you have conspired to allocate redevelopment monies to benefit private interests. You have, we believe, violated California law by holding secret meetings and making illegal decisions. It is our belief that you made decisions and conspired in matters affecting public finance, public health and safety, in private, in secret communications, and through third party contacts. We believe that your conduct exposes the City to litigation, including the Brown Act, and liability, the public to harm, and compromises City finances. )

Mesa will review the signatures, and if the petition is declared valid, Ferre and Garcia would have 30 days to respond. The citizens would then be required to gather 1,500 more signatures to move ahead with the recall.

The two council members' current terms expire in November 2008.
Reach Julie Farren at 909-806-3066 or jfarren@PE.com