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Dinuba Mayor and City Council recall, California (2014)

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Dinuba City Council recall
Ballotpedia Election Coverage Badge.png
Officeholders
Janet Hinesly
Aldo Gonzalez
Mike Smith
Recall status
Did not go to a vote
Recall defeated
Recall election date
June 3, 2014
See also
Recall overview
Political recall efforts, 2014
Recalls in California
California recall laws
City council recalls
Recall reports

An effort to recall Mayor Janet Hinesly, council member Aldo Gonzalez and council member Mike Smith in Dinuba, California from their positions was launched in September 2013. Smith was added to the recall effort in October.[1] The recalls against Gonzalez and Smith did not go to a vote. Hinesly was retained.[2]

The effort was led by Robert Cervantes. He alleged that utility rate hikes violated California's Proposition 218 which added Articles XIII C and XIII D to require local governments to obtain the approval of property owners in a local ballot measure before levying a new or increased tax assessment on those property owners.[1]

Election results

Mayor Janet Hinesly
ResultVotesPercentage
Recall5743.85%
Red x.svg Retain7356.15%

Notice of intent to recall

The notice read:[1]

Grounds for the recall are irresponsible spending that contributes to the city debt, which includes but is not limited to: Increased salaries for employees making above $120,000 a year or more by 12 percent; increased city spending for employee retirement and benefit packages; increased city utility rates that burden the taxpayers with no stated intention of where the revenues are allocated, possibly a violation of Prop. 218; lack of transparent government; intentional evasion of constituents; patterned spending that will create bigger government at a greater cost to the tax base.[3]

Path to the ballot

See also: Laws governing recall in California

Notices of "intent to recall" were submitted on September 24, 2013; however, they were deemed invalid because they contained insufficient signatures. Cervantes resubmitted the notices in early October and added a third petition for council member Mike Smith. The new notices contained approximately 40 signatures per petition. Notices for "intent to recall" require a minimum of 20 signatures each.[4]

The efforts to recall Smith and Gonzalez stalled in early 2014 -- the petition to recall Gonzalez was found to lack the requisite number of valid signatures, and the petition to recall Smith was not submitted by the January 13, 2014 deadline. The petition to recall Mayor Hinesly, who is also the Ward 2 councilmember, was declared valid. The recall election for Hinesly was held on June 3, 2014, the same date as the state's primary election.[5] Hinesly was retained.[2]

See also

External links

Additional reading

Footnotes