Local News in Brief : Petitions for Recall Are Filed

Recall petitions with 1,547 signatures were filed Tuesday against Rolling Hills Estates City Councilman Jerome Belsky, City Manager Ray Taylor said. The petitions have been sent to the county registrar-recorder for verification of signatures.

To force a recall election, the petitions must be signed by 1,345 voters registered in the city. It will take two to three weeks to check the petitions, Taylor said.

Recall leader Paul Bradley said the major reason he and four other people are seeking Belsky’s recall is the councilman’s alleged verbal abuse of residents. The recall petition contends that Belsky, a council member for 12 years, is “progressively destroying the respect and harmony” between city government and residents. Belsky has denied the charges.

Belsky filed a defamation suit against the recall proponents over one of the charges in the recall petition. It alleged that Belsky and two unnamed council members are investors in a bank that does business in the city, which creates the potential for a conflict of interest. Belsky has sought a court order to get the charge removed from the petitions. Recall proponents assert they are exercising constitutionally protected right to free speech. The case is pending in Torrance Superior Court.

Taylor said that if sufficient signatures are valid, the council must set up a recall election within 88 to 125 days. If there is an election, it would be the first recall election in city history.