Councilman to Face Recall

Veteran Rolling Hills Estates City Councilman Jerome Belsky will face a recall election in November--the first in the city’s history--following legal qualification of a recall petition filed by Paul Edward Bradley Sr. and four other residents of the city. City Manager Ray Taylor said the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder held that 1,499 of the 1,547 names submitted by the recall committee were valid signatures of registered voters. The group needed 1,345 to compel a recall election.

Mayor Warren Schwarzmann said the City Council will consolidate the recall election with the Nov. 8 general election. Taylor said the election will cost the city $5,000, “as opposed to the $8,000 or $10,000” a special election would cost.

In addition to the recall of Belsky, a councilman for 12 years, the ballot asks voters how the vacancy should be filled--special election or council appointment--if the councilman is recalled.