Mayor and city council recall, Lake Forest, California (2016)
| Lake Forest Mayor and City Council recall |
|---|
 |
| Officeholders |
Andrew Hamilton Dwight Robinson |
| Recall status |
| See also |
| Recall overview Political recall efforts, 2016 Recalls in California California recall laws Mayoral recalls City council recalls Recall reports |
Efforts in Lake Forest, California, to recall Mayor Scott Voigts and City Councilmembers Andrew Hamilton and Dwight Robinson from their positions were launched in October 2015.[1] The Lake Forest City Clerk certified recall petitions on December 22, 2015, and organizers submitted signatures for all three officials on April 20, 2016.[2][3] The recall did not go to a vote because insufficient signatures were validated for each official.[4]
Recall supporters
Leah Basile served all three officials with notices of intent to recall in late October 2015. She cited the addition of new medians on Saddleback Ranch Road as the primary reason for the recall efforts. Basile said that the medians are too wide and the three targeted officials approved the construction due to past campaign contributions from developers. She highlighted $16,609 in expenditures supporting the 2014 campaigns of all three officials by Restore California, a political action committee that received $10,000 from Meritage Homes.[1]
The Committee to Recall City Council Members Voigts, Hamilton & Robinson spent $5,400 for campaign materials through December 31, 2015.[2] On May 6, 2016, The Orange County Register reported that Councilmember Jim Gardner contributed $30,000 to the recall committee in March 2016. Gardner was motivated to contribute because the targeted officials rejected his proposal for a city dog shelter.[5]
Recall opponents
Opponents of the recall included political consultant David Ellis, the Orange County Republican Party, and the Association of Orange County Deputy Sheriffs. A group formed by Ellis and funded by opponents of the recall sent mailers to city residents claiming that City Councilmember Adam Nick led the recall effort to oppose further housing developments.[2] Recall opponents raised approximately $25,000 by March 2016 according to The Orange County Register.[5]
Response by city officials
Scott Voigts
Voigts made the following statement to The Orange County Register:
| “ |
I call these allegations frivolous...People give us contributions because they believe in the form of government that we support. My first and utmost duty is to the people of Lake Forest. No amount of money, and no friendship, is going to supersede my loyalty and commitment to the people of Lake Forest. [6] |
” |
| —Scott Voigts (2015), [1] | ||
Andrew Hamilton
Hamilton called Basile's allegations baseless in an interview with The Orange County Register.[1]
Dwight Robinson
Robinson made the following statement to The Orange County Register:
| “ |
Some contractors have donated to some of our campaigns and others haven’t...That’s had no bearing on the decisions I have made, and for her to make those accusation like that is borderline libelous. [6] |
” |
| —Dwight Robinson (2015), [1] | ||
Path to the ballot
- See also: Laws governing recall in California
Basile received signatures on notices of intent to recall for Hamilton (31), Robinson (31), and Voigts (30). These initial signatures were approved by the city clerk on December 22, 2015. Basile and other supporters needed to gather at least 7,882 signatures from registered voters in the city for each official. The deadline for submitting signatures to the city clerk was April 20, 2016.[2][1]
Recall supporters submitted signatures against Hamilton (8,245), Robinson (8,238), and Voigts (8,183) on April 20, 2016. All three totals exceeded minimum signature requirements. On June 2, 2016, the Orange County Registrar of Voters determined that there were not enough valid signatures to force a recall election against all three officials.[3][4]
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms 'Recall' 'Lake Forest California'. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
- Recall campaigns in California
- Political recall efforts, 2015
- Political recall efforts, 2016
- City council recalls
- Mayoral recalls
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 The Orange County Register, "Recall effort of two Lake Forest councilmen, mayor begins," October 27, 2015
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 The Orange County Register, "Lake Forest community splits over recall effort targeting council majority," March 10, 2016
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 The Orange County Register, "Recall organizers submit over 24,000 signatures to oust Lake Forest council members," April 21, 2016
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 The Orange County Registrar, "Recall effort against Lake Forest mayor and two council members falls short," June 3, 2016
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 The Orange County Register, "Dog suit incident leads to surprise donor in Lake Forest recall effort," May 6, 2016
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
