Anaheim Residents Being Polled on Sentiment for Recall of 3 on Council

A major test of the political strength of a homeowners’ group demanding the recall of three Anaheim City Council members began Monday night with residents being polled to determine whether there is citywide sentiment for the recall.

The telephone survey was started by three groups: Anaheim HOME, a coalition of homeowners that forced the city to drop the Katella redevelopment project; the Anaheim Hills Citizens Coalition, a group seeking to control development in the hills area, and the Anaheim Political Action Committee, which supports rent control in the city’s mobile home parks.

The groups banded together in what one activist called a “commonality of interests,” and their cooperation is indicative of the growing strength of several quickly formed residential groups in the city.

Besides asking residents about the recall, the survey will include issues concerning the Anaheim Hills group and mobile home rent control, Anaheim HOME member Steve White said.

“We are going to need their help if we go ahead with the recall; it will require a coalition of the entire city,” White said. If the groups do decide to mount a recall, about 12,000 signatures will be needed to ensure a ballot initiative, city officials said.

The survey, which will extend over several days, will be conducted by Nason, Lundberg & Associates, an Orange firm that conducted polls for Anaheim City Councilmen Fred Hunter and William Ehrle during their campaigns.

Lois Lundberg, president of the firm, said the survey will pose about 20 questions to 500-700 residents. Lundberg would not detail the questions to be asked but said they were designed to “elicit a range of views on issues of concern to the groups and the city.” Results are expected in about a week.

The recall movement sprang from an angry Aug. 11 City Council meeting at which the $2.7-billion, 35-year Katella redevelopment project was formally abandoned by the city. Although the council had already voted down the plan, an overflow crowd of homeowners demanded that a spokesman be heard.

When the council instead went into closed session, the homeowners announced that they would ask for a recall of Mayor Ben Bay, Mayor Pro Tem Miriam Kaywood and Councilman Irv Pickler, saying the three “lacked faith in the people who put them in office.” Hunter, who had opposed redevelopment all along, and Ehrle, an initial supporter, were not targeted.

All of the targeted council members have indicated that they are not worried about the recall effort.

But Anaheim HOME President Doug Kintz said the group has become a force the city cannot overlook. The group says it has a core membership of about 50 but distributes a newsletter to 5,000 residents.

The HOME group mounted an effective campaign to defeat the Katella project little more than six weeks after most residents learned of the city’s plans. Those opposed to the project argued that their property rights were jeopardized by the city’s power of eminent domain and said the project would mainly benefit big businesses in the area.

The HOME group has since indicated that it might work for even more fundamental changes in city government, including adding two council seats and switching from citywide to district elections.

Spokesmen for HOME and the Anaheim Hills Citizens Coalition have said their groups are not anti-development but are concerned with the lack of a coherent plan for many developments proposed by the city.

The coalition, which claims to represent about 500 residents in the Anaheim Hills area, was formed to oppose the building of a $1.2-million Mormon church complex on Fairmont Boulevard. The group has sued the city to block construction. The group also opposes planned residential development in the area and Orange County’s plans to build a maximum-security jail nearby.

Both groups may be symbolic of a no-growth, anti-development sentiment sweeping California, according to some analysts.

Recall Successes Few

Local issues such as the ones being fought in Anaheim are increasing in number and intensity, according to Mark DiCamillo, managing director of the Field Institute, which conducts the highly regarded California Poll. The issues involve increasing unhappiness with the “byproducts of sustained growth” in the state, DiCamillo said.

But he said efforts to recall local officials have not generally been successful.

“Generally, one must suppose that council members can mount a successful counter-campaign of their own,” DiCamillo said.

“With a considerable bankroll and an organized effort, an incumbent can turn back most recall efforts. In attempting to throw the rascals out, you have to make the case that there is a good reason to do so now rather than wait for the next election. It’s a difficult task, even if you manage to get a recall measure on the ballot.”

White said if the Anaheim poll shows little support for a recall, the group will probably abandon that idea but will pursue other alternatives.

“There are other approaches we can take,” White said. “Our groups have lost none of the commitment or interest we exhibited, and we’ll continue to be active.”