Redondo Beach

City Councilman Ron Cawdrey will face a recall election this summer if a recall petition containing 2,089 signatures proves valid.

“I’m flabbergasted they got that many signatures,” said Cawdrey of the petitions submitted Monday by Deloris Theissen, who has unsuccessfully sought the North Redondo council seat in the past.

Theissen said the petition drive was triggered in large part by Cawdrey’s support of development in the harbor area and at the former Aviation High School campus.

“People are very angry about tearing down Aviation--our newest high school,” she said. “And people are very concerned about overdevelopment and traffic.”

To qualify for the ballot the petition must contain valid signatures from 1,706 residents of Cawdrey’s district.

City Clerk John Oliver said that county officials will have 30 days to verify the signatures. If the petition is declared valid, an election will be called for June or July, he added.

If voters decided to recall Cawdrey, the City Council would appoint a successor for the remainder of his term, which expires in early 1987.

Theissen said the petitions were circulated door-to-door and in front of a supermarket by 11 district residents. She would not say whether she will seek Cawdrey’s seat if he is recalled.

Cawdrey, who termed the recall drive “totally political,” said that overdevelopment is an overblown issue.

“The total development in the harbor has consisted of the promenade between the Monstad Pier and the straight pier,” he said. “Other than that, there have been only two votes on two hotels that haven’t even been started yet. So I don’t understand overdevelopment . . . unless (Theissen) is opposed to the South Bay Galleria.”