Cudahy : Clerk OKs Recall Petition

A recall petition has been approved for circulation against two councilmen who voted to cut off funds to the financially troubled Cudahy Social Service Agency.

City Clerk Ebbie Mouton approved the petition against Councilmen John O. Robertson and Joseph Graffio. Recall leaders have until Feb. 10 to collect signatures of 25% of the city’s 3,348 registered voters to force an election.

In the petition, Robertson is accused of being insensitive to the community and Graffio is accused of voting the way Robertson wants him to.

In October, Robertson, Graffio and Councilman Gabe Zippi voted to cut off agency funds and hire two other nonprofit organizations to take over the agency’s job of distributing food and clothing to the needy. Zippi has not been targeted for recall.

Robertson and Graffio have accused Mayor Wilfred Colon, a strong supporter of the Social Service Agency, of being behind the recall effort. Colon has denied this but has acknowledged that he was asked by Michael Rodriguez how to start a recall attempt. Rodriguez is the secretary and a director of the agency and one of five people signing the recall petition.

The Social Service Agency owes the city Redevelopment Agency more than $12,000 in back rent and the city has taken legal steps to remove the nonprofit agency from a city-owned building if the rent is not paid.