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Zach Friend recall, Santa Cruz County, California (2016)
| Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors recall |
|---|
 |
| Officeholders |
| Recall status |
| See also |
| Recall overview Political recall efforts, 2016 Recalls in California California recall laws County commission recalls Recall reports |
An effort to recall Zach Friend from his position as a member of the board of supervisors for Santa Cruz County, California, was proposed on June 16, 2015, and a notice of intent was filed on July 9, 2015.[1] No signatures against Friend were turned in by the petition deadline, so the recall did not go to a vote.
Aptos resident Becky Steinbruner, who is an organizer of the group that proposed the recall of Friend, said, “One of the main points that triggered this recall action is Supervisor Friend’s very pro-growth attitude.” Steinbruner, as well as others behind the recall effort, were also involved with the group seeking to put a stop to the Aptos Village development project.[1]
Zach Friend won a decisive victory in 2012 to take his seat on the board of supervisors. His four-year term was set to end in Fall 2016, when he had to run again for office to keep serving as a county supervisor.[1]
Signatures for the recall were not turned in by the deadline of February 17, 2016.[2]
Background
The last successful recall petition campaigns targeting Santa Cruz County supervisors occurred in 1978, when two members of the board were recalled from office.[1]
Aptos Village project
The Aptos Village development project objected to by the group seeking Friend's recall was unanimously approved by county supervisors in September 2012, several months before Friend joined the board after his victory in November 2012. As of June 16, 2015, the county was working to update and amend the codes governing the county's planning department to allow the project to go forward. The Aptos Village project is a development project proposed for the area near the corner of Soquel Drive and Trout Gulch Road. The project was designed to make the area into a town center, with a park, shops, restaurants and housing.[1][3]
Recall supporters
Recall supporter arguments
Steinbruner claimed Friend showed "arrogance" and inaccessibility, pointing specifically to Friend's exclusively daytime office hours. Some county supervisors provide both daytime and evening office hours. She also argued that Friend intended to make big alterations to the county's planning department codes that would be bad for the community.[1]
Steinbruner said, "I feel that he blatantly disregards public concerns. He supports sweeping changes that will completely unleash development across the county.”[4]
Recall opponents
Response by Zach Friend
In his unofficial response to the proposal of a recall petition, Friend said, “If you walk down a path of change, and you’re willing to keep walking on it to ensure that we leave things better for the next generation than we found it, you can expect resistance and you can expect every political tactic possible.”[1]
Path to the ballot
- See also: Laws governing recall in California
As a first step, Steinbruner and other recall proponents provided Friend with a "notice of intent" for the recall petition on July 9, 2015. The necessary paperwork, including 20 valid signatures, was also submitted to county elections office and published. The petitioners had to collect about 5,904 signatures from registered voters in Friend's district by February 17, 2016. Signatures were not turned in by the deadline.[1][4][2]
See also
External links
Basic information
Recent news
This section links to a Google news search for the term "Zach + Friend + recall"
- All stories may not be relevant to this page due to the nature of the search engine.
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 Santa Cruz Sentinel, "Group wants to recall supervisor over Aptos Village Project," June 16, 2015
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Santa Cruz County Elections, "Recall long," February 17, 2016
- ↑ Santa Cruz Sentinel, "Supervisors approve Aptos development plans," September 25, 2012
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Register-Pajaronian, "Residents leading recall effort of supervisor," July 10, 2015
