Local News in Brief : Laguna Beach : 3 Recall Drives Focus on July 26 Signing Deadline

Collectors of signatures on petitions to recall three Laguna Beach City Council members have missed some deadlines to turn documents in to City Hall officials but still have until July 26 to collect 3,000 names for each petition, City Clerk Verna Rollinger said Tuesday.

“There is some confusion about the actual deadline that will allow the question to appear on the November ballot,” Rollinger said Tuesday.

“The group seeking the recall first set June 7, then June 13, and right now it’s sort of up in the air. We haven’t heard a word from them today.”

She added, however, that the signatures must be submitted and approved by the registrar of voters on or before July 26. But even if that deadline is met, she said, it would probably be too late to get the recall questions on the November ballot, in which case a special election would be scheduled.

The recall is aimed at Mayor Dan Kenney and council members Robert F. Gentry and Lida Campbell Lenney. Lenney is the Democratic nominee for the November election in the 40th Congressional District.

Gentry was reported to have been involved in a minor disturbance, which police called “a very low-key situation,” involving signature gatherers in a supermarket parking lot last weekend. The incident has resulted in complaints being sent to the district attorney’s office alleging that Gentry interfered with their signature-gathering.

Neither the deputy district attorney handling the case nor representatives of the recall group could be reached for comment Tuesday.