LAGUNA NIGUEL : Campaign to Recall Councilman Dies

A recall campaign aimed at unseating City Councilman Paul M. Christiansen was thwarted Wednesday when its supporters failed to file the required petition by the 5 p.m. deadline.

The failure marks the end of a recall effort that at one time targeted all five members of the City Council. The effort was sparked by a controversial ridgeline protection ordinance endorsed by 4,000 city voters last fall.

The four other council members were targeted as a group when they refused to approve or place the ordinance on the ballot. The recall effort against them died in March, also because of a lack of signatures.

Christiansen, who never openly declared support for the ordinance, was targeted for recall because he allegedly endorsed it “behind the scenes,” said Susan Penney, leader of the recall effort. She accused him of “malfeasance.”

She added that while her move to unseat Christiansen officially died Wednesday, it was actually killed several weeks ago.

“It was a very low-key effort,” Penney, a 12-year Laguna Niguel resident and manager of a travel agency, said of the recall drive. “We had actually stopped soliciting signatures quite some time ago. I had come to the conclusion that the community and the city did not need any more negative publicity circulated, regardless of my feelings about Paul.”

Christiansen said he is happy that the recall campaign is over.

“We can now move to more positive and productive community business,” he said after hearing of the recall’s failure Wednesday.