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Mayor and city council recall, Grover Beach, California (2024)
| Grover Beach mayor and city council recall |
|---|
 |
| Officeholders |
Zach Zimmerman Daniel Rushing |
| Recall status |
Recall approved (Rushing) |
| Recall election date |
| November 5, 2024 |
| Signature requirement |
514 signatures (Rushing) |
| See also |
| Recall overview Political recall efforts, 2024 Recalls in California California recall laws City council recalls Mayoral recalls Recall reports |
An election to recall City Councilman Daniel Rushing was scheduled for November 5, 2024, in Grover Beach, California.[1][2] Voters recalled Rushing.[3]
An effort to recall Mayor Karen Bright and City Councilman Zach Zimmerman did not go to a vote. Bright and Zimmerman's seats were up for regular election in November 2024.[4][5]
Recall vote
Daniel Rushing recall, 2024
Daniel Rushing lost the Grover Beach City Council District 2 recall election on November 5, 2024.
Recall Vote |
% |
Votes |
|||
| ✖ | Yes |
55.4
|
792 | ||
No |
44.6
|
638 | |||
Total Votes |
1,430 | ||||
|
|
Recall supporters
A group called Grover H2O is organizing the recall effort. The recall effort was initiated after a December 11, 2023, meeting of the city council during which the council voted 3-2 to increase water rates to assist in paying for a water reclamation project called Central Coast Blue. Some of the concerns recall organizers have raised about the project include cost, the effect on property values, and the environmental impact.[1]
Recall opponents
Bright said in an email to New Times, "During the past seven drought years and up to the major rain event in 2023, residents continually came to council demanding we do something to alleviate the numerous water restrictions that affected them. Grover Beach has worked for four years to maintain the lowest water rates in the county. Once the new rates are in effect, of the 12 water purveyors in the county, Grover Beach will have the third lowest rates in the county."[1]
New Times reported that Zimmerman said, "I certainly have my concerns about the CCB [Central Coast Blue] project, cost being primary among them. However, on balance, through hours of research and conversation with myriad experts and our local civic partners, who have been working on this for many years, I felt that moving forward was, and remains, the best choice," and "I would add that this is an election year, so allowing residents to decide at the ballot box in November would appear to me the best use of city and taxpayers' resources."[1]
Path to the ballot
- See also: Laws governing recall in California
No specific grounds are required for recall in California. The recall process starts with a notice of intention to recall. The notice must be served to the officer whose recall is being sought as well as published in a newspaper of general circulation. The notice must then be filed with the relevant election office. Once the notice has been deemed sufficient by the election office, a petition must also be filed and approved by the election office. Once the petition is approved, it can be circulated. To get a recall on the ballot, supporters must collect signatures from registered voters in the jurisdiction. The number of signatures required is between 10% and 30% of registered voters in the jurisdiction, depending on the size of the jurisdiction. Jurisdictions with 1,000 registered voters or fewer require 30%, and jurisdictions with 100,000 or more registered voters require 10%. Charter cities can also set their own signature threshold. The amount of time allowed for the circulation of recall petitions also varies by the number of registered voters in a jurisdiction, between 40 and 160 days. Jurisdictions with fewer than 1,000 registered voters allow 40 days, and jurisdictions with more than 50,000 registered voters allow 160 days.[6]
Grover H2O member Lesley Mar served Bright, Zimmerman, and Rushing with notices of intent to recall them during a city council meeting on January 8, 2024.[1][7]
On April 26, 2024, Grover H2O filed a lawsuit alleging that Grover Beach City Clerk Wendi Sims had unlawfully rejected the recall petitions.[8] On May 23, 2024, San Luis Obispo Superior Court Judge Craig van Rooyen ordered that recall organizers be allowed to circulate the recall petitions.[9]
Recall context
- See also: Ballotpedia's Recall Report
Ballotpedia covers recall efforts across the country for all state and local elected offices. A recall effort is considered official if the petitioning party has filed an official form, such as a notice of intent to recall, with the relevant election agency.
The chart below shows how many officials were included in recall efforts from 2012 to 2024 as well as how many of them defeated recall elections to stay in office and how many were removed from office in recall elections.
See also
- Ballotpedia's Recall Report
- Grover Beach, California
- Recall campaigns in California
- Political recall efforts, 2024
- City council recalls
- Mayoral recalls
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 New Times, "Grover Beach City Council members threatened with recall attempt," January 11, 2024
- ↑ New Times, "Council member recall headed for the ballot in Grover Beach," July 25, 2024
- ↑ The Tribune, "The final election results are here. See who won in SLO County," December 3, 2024
- ↑ New Times, "Grover H2O isn't giving up on recalling Councilmember Daniel Rushing," June 6, 2024
- ↑ KVEC, "Hometown Radio 06/13/24 3:30p: Debbie Peterson updates us on the Grover Beach recall efforts," accessed June 14, 2024
- ↑ California Secretary of State, "Recall Procedures Guide 2023," accessed October 16, 2023
- ↑ Ballotpedia staff, "Email communication with Grover Beach City Clerk Wendi Sims," February 5, 2024
- ↑ Cal Coast News, "Did Grover Beach unlawfully reject recall petitions?" April 28, 2024
- ↑ Cal Coast News, "Judge finds Grover Beach clerk illicitly rejected recall petitions," May 23, 2024
