SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO : Leader of Recall Alleges ‘Sabotage’

A leader of a recall movement against two City Council members charged this week that city officials are conspiring to “sabotage” his efforts.

Local attorney Carlos F. Negrete, who, with Robert P. King, has launched a recall drive against City Councilmen Kenneth E. Friess and Gary L. Hausdorfer, sent a letter to the council charging that city officials, including City Clerk Cheryl Johnson, have purposely delayed approving a petition to be circulated among residents by ordering insignificant changes.

Negrete and King on May 1 filed a notice of intent to recall Hausdorfer and Friess. The final draft of the recall petition, however, has not yet been approved by Johnson.

“What they are trying to do is sabotage the recall,” Negrete said. “This process can go on forever if we have to send the petition back and forth, back and forth. They are coming up with stuff I have never heard of before.”

Negrete said changes have been ordered to adjust “millimeters of indentations” and delete bold-faced lettering “when there is no bold facing.”

“We may have to take this thing to court to seek punitive damages and to get a writ of mandate demanding they approve it,” Negrete said. “But in the meantime, we can’t circulate petitions.”

Johnson denied Negrete’s charges, particularly any thought that a “conspiracy” exists.

“I am the one in charge of this whole thing, and there is absolutely no intent on my part to do that,” she said. “There are specific election code requirements and those are the things I am asking for.”

Johnson added that the changes are required by petition code specifications. “I would imagine when he brings (the petition) back, it would be ready to go,” she said.

The recall petition, which charges Friess and Hausdorfer with putting the city in a “fiscal crisis” and favoring special interests over the wishes of city residents, currently includes answers to the charges from the councilmen. Each statement must be kept to a maximum of 200 words each, according to state election code.

Once the petition is approved by Johnson, the recall organizers have 120 days to gather approximately 2,600 signatures, or 20% of the city’s registered voters, to force a recall election.

In the meantime, an anti-recall group, Citizens Against the Recall, has formed and is attempting to raise funds for its efforts.

The group is planning a fund-raiser June 22 at Mission San Juan Capistrano.