San Gabriel : Petitioners Reach Goal

Activists seeking to oust City Councilman Frank Blaszcak from office say they have reached their goal of collecting the signatures of 20% of the voters on anti-Blaszcak petitions. Organizers of the petition drive, which was started almost four months ago, have until Monday to present the city clerk with the 2,766 verifiable signatures of the city’s registered voters needed for a recall election.

But organizers say they will continue to collect signatures this weekend to provide a cushion of verifiable support. About 40 canvassers, charging that Blaszcak has misused his office, will continue to circulate petitions, said Councilman Sabino Cici, one of Blaszcak’s rivals on the City Council.

In the meantime, a rival committee is following in the recall petitioners’ tracks, seeking to get petition signers to retract their support. “We’re going door to door, showing people that the different issues brought by the petitioners are lies,” said Larry Fitch, a member of Friends and Supporters of Frank Blaszcak. About 100 people have withdrawn their signatures from the recall petitions, he said.