Voss Recall Petition Qualifies for Ballot in Fountain Valley

A recall petition against Fountain Valley City Councilman Fred Voss, convicted in March of soliciting sex, qualified for the November ballot Wednesday by just 20 signatures, the city clerk said.

The county registrar’s office verified 6,174 signatures on the petitions, City Clerk J.E. de Sevren Jacquet said. A minimum of 6,154 signatures, or 20% of the registered voters in the city, was required.

A group of Fountain Valley residents launched the recall drive after Voss, 52, was convicted in March of trying to solicit sex from an undercover Santa Ana policewoman. Voss stepped down as mayor after the conviction, but has continued to serve as a councilman.

‘This Is Good News’

“You bet your life this is good news,” said Beverly Burnett, a spokeswoman for the Fred Voss Recall Committee. “After standing in supermarkets and parking lots for weeks trying to get signatures, this makes it worthwhile.”

But Voss vowed Wednesday to fight the recall move.

“These recall leaders keep insisting that they aren’t looking for publicity, and yet their actions will keep this in the public’s eye for another three or four months,” he said. “I think the people in Fountain Valley are smarter than this and will realize that on balance, one mistake compared to 22 years of (community and elected) service should outweigh themselves.

“I think that in perspective last January I made a mistake resulting in a misdemeanor for that mistake. I suffered financially, personally, and in my business as well, basically every way you can, I did. These people insist on keeping it in the public’s eye and I just think enough’s enough.”

Recall proponents, who submitted 7,028 signatures on petitions to recall Voss, also are angry that his colleagues have not ousted him, Burnett said. The proponents were misled, she said, because council members had said they would help unseat Voss after his conviction.

“After he was arrested they told us that they would wait until he went to court. Then when he pleaded no contest to the charge, they chose to take no action, saying it was only a misdemeanor and not a felony conviction. They told us their hands were tied,” Burnett said.

Mayor Laurann Cook denied that council members had misled anyone.

“Emotion is quite high right now on the subject. I’m not saying that there hasn’t been conversations with Fred about (his) resignation, but we have to leave that up to the electorate,” Cook said.

“We on the council have no legal right to ask a fellow council member to resign. It’s up to the voters of Fountain Valley. There’s no legal process in which we can remove Fred Voss from office; that process is the electorate, and they needed to qualify a petition so the people could make that decision,” she said.

The City Council is expected to vote at a special meeting at 12:15 p.m. Friday to place the issue before voters in November.

No Ax to Grind

Said Burnett: “No one has a personal ax to grind with Mr. Voss. But it does not seem logical to remain on the council, in view of his conviction for seeking sex. I mean, come on, he went to a place that was highly publicized as one of the places in Orange County where prostitutes could be found. He was our mayor, and he’s supposed to be representing us.”

Voss said he has accepted his mistake, which he called regrettable.

If he loses the recall election, the city may appoint someone to replace him or hold a special election eight months later at a cost of $46,000, Voss said, adding, “That’s ridiculous.”