South El Monte : Recall Petitions Target 3

Critics of recent City Council actions say they will start collecting signatures next week for the recall petitions they have filed with the city clerk, charging Mayor Albert Perez and City Councilmen Stan Quintana and Art Olmos with “corrupt practices” and “immoral spending.”

Members of South El Monte Citizens Advocating Recall cited a vote for a controversial trash hauling contract, the approval of the sale of federal and county aid to other cities and support for layoffs of key middle management personnel in the city.

The three elected officials denied that they were corrupt or wasteful. The charges are “trumped up” and “gross distortions,” Perez said. He added that the recall effort is being financed by “a few disgruntled industrialists” who have been stymied by city officials in expanding “obnoxious” industrial operations, such as a smelter.

The City Council voted 3 to 0 last month to give Modern Service Co. an exclusive rubbish hauling franchise, despite complaints from competing haulers. Last year, the council approved the sale of part of its allocation of federal Community Development Block Grant funds to the City of West Covina, and it approved a 27% raise for City Manager Raul Romero after four other city employees had been terminated.

If the dissidents begin the signature-gathering campaign as scheduled next week, they will have 90 days, until mid-May, to collect the 1,253 signatures necessary to put the measure on the ballot.