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Jack Hanson recall, Lassen County, California (2012)
| Lassen County District Supervisor recall |
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| Officeholders |
| Recall status |
| See also |
| Recall overview Political recall efforts, 2012 Recalls in California California recall laws County official recalls Recall reports |
An effort to recall Jack Hanson from his position as the elected Lassen County District 4 supervisor was launched in January 2012 and abandoned in May 2012.[1] A previous recall effort also fell short after Lassen County Clerk Julie Bustamante invalidated the recall paperwork because recall organizers submitted photocopies of signatures, rather than the originals.[2]
Reasons for recall
The official grounds for recall are listed below:
“Your vote to terminate the contract with CAO Tom Stone, which may open the county to a lawsuit."
“Your vote allowing taxpayer money, in excessive of $800,000, to be wastefully spent."
“Your indifference to the economic growth and development of Herlong and Doyle."
“Your unwillingness to embrace growth and economic progress for Lassen County, which has a negative impact on your constituents."
“Your failure to support a taxpayer-funded swimming pool while supporting waste in other places."
“Your lack of responsiveness and willingness to serve constituents, including your failure to return phone calls, attend meetings and otherwise support constituents when asked for help.”[2]
Path to the ballot
Hanson was served with the Notice of Intention to Circulate Recall Petition in January 2012.[2] County Clerk Julie Bustamante approved the petitions for circulation on March 9. On May 10, recall organizers submitted 754 signatures out of a required 568 signatures. However, Bustamante said that some of the petition forms had been circulated prior to March 9, rendering these signatures invalid. Bustamante also said, "upon closer examination I discovered an additional 70 sections of this petition were also copied from the March 5, 2012, rejected petition. In accordance with statewide procedures, these sections cannot be accepted for filing and the signatures attached cannot be included in the raw count." With insufficient signatures to move forward, the recall effort was abandoned.[1]
Recall lawsuit
In August 2012, recall supporters filed a petition for a writ of mandate in Lassen County Superior Court. A writ of mandate requires a government agency to follow the law by either correcting its prior actions or ceasing illegal acts. County Clerk Julie Bustsamante had rejected 70 sheets of recall petitions because they included a misspelling of one of the recall proponent’s names. The writ of mandate says that the error is minor and would not affect “substantial compliance with the law.” Recall supporters are asking the court to force Bustamante to accept the recall petitions.[3]
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Lassen County Times, "County clerk declares valid portion of petition insufficient for supervisor recall election," May 14, 2012
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Plumas County News, "Lassen County supervisor faces second recall campaign," January 25, 2012
- ↑ Lassen County Times, "Hanson recall proponents seek writ to overturn county clerk’s decision," August 10, 2012 (dead link)
