Consultants Predict Failure for Recall of Santa Ana Officials

Judging by defeats of past recall efforts in Orange County, political consultants Tuesday predicted failure for a fundamentalist group’s plan to purge the mayor and two City Council members in Santa Ana for refusing to ban a gay pride festival next month at a local park.

Recalls are extremely difficult because voters are being asked to admit that they made a mistake when they elected the officeholder in the first place, Irvine-based political consultant Eileen Padberg said Tuesday.

“I don’t think this Santa Ana recall can be successful because it is based on a single issue rather than the whole abuse of an elected office,” Padberg said. She acknowledged, however, that because of the single issue, supporters of this recall effort are likely to work harder to get the necessary signatures to put the question on the city ballot.

Political consultant David Ellis of Newport Beach predicted that the Rev. Louis P. Sheldon, leader of the Anaheim-based Coalition on Traditional Values, and his followers will have a difficult time maintaining public interest in the recall once the Gay Pride Festival is over. The event is scheduled Sept. 9 and 10 at Centennial Regional Park.

“People lose interest in single issues and the passion of the moment is fleeting in these kinds of recalls,” Ellis said.

Sheldon followers served recall notices to Santa Ana Mayor Daniel H. Young and council members Patricia A. McGuigan and Daniel E. Griset on Monday night shortly before a council meeting began. The three officials had refused to sign a “pro-family” resolution demanding that the festival be banned.

Last week, Sheldon threatened unspecified action against council members who refused to sign his resolution by noon Monday. Two other council members, Miguel A. Pulido and Ron May, who also did not sign, were not served notices but were warned that the religious group will oppose their reelection in November, 1990. Councilman Richards L. Norton, who also did not comply, was not served with a recall notice. Norton, who won office in an April special election, is exempt from recall by law because he has not been in office long enough.

Councilman John Acosta was the only council member to sign the resolution.

City Atty. Edward J. Cooper had warned City Council members not to sign Sheldon’s resolution. Cooper has told the council that revoking the festival’s park permit would be unconstitutional because it would discriminate against gay pride organizers.

City Clerk Janice C. Guy said Tuesday that the recall notices were being reviewed to make sure that proper procedures had been followed. Once the notices are officially filed, the recall targets have seven days to draft responses. The coalition then has 160 days to circulate petitions. To qualify a recall measure for ballot, each petition must contain 11,040 signatures from registered voters in Santa Ana.

Ironically, Sheldon’s recall effort has brought Mayor Young support from a former opponent and leader of a previous recall effort. Jim Lowman said he is determined to help his past adversary beat the latest recall effort.

Last year, Young was targeted for recall by the Committee Organized for Public Safety (COPS) and Santa Ana Merged Society of Neighborhoods (SAMSON), which merged forces to try to oust the mayor whom they accused of neglecting public safety. The recall effort failed when organizers were unable to get enough signatures to qualify the measure for the ballot.

“They got the right people, but they are targeting the wrong issue,” Lowman said. “I’ll defend Young and the others on this because they are protecting the Constitution.”

In the last two years, there have been a rash of recall attempts in Orange County, most of which have been unsuccessful because recall supporters have had difficulty getting enough signatures, according to Harvey Englander, a Newport Beach-based political consultant.

Last year, he noted, recall campaigns against Orange County Supervisors Thomas F. Riley and Harriett M. Wieder failed because organizers were not able to garner enough interest or signatures.