STANTON : Mayor’s Letters Ask for Recall Rejection

Fighting a drive to remove him from office, Mayor Sal Sapien has mailed letters to residents asking them to reject a recall vote.

The letters, mailed last week, called arguments against his stand on a controversial new civic center “half-truths and outright lies.”

The recall drive, supported by Councilmen David John Shawver, Harry M. Dotson and former planning commissioner Rand Hogan, began in March, largely as a result of Sapien’s support for the new city hall. The project is expected to cost about $5 million, which Sapien and his supporters say can be paid for with available redevelopment funds and “not cost the Stanton taxpayer one dime.”

However, critics of the project say the money should be used to spur development and increase the financially strapped city’s tax base.

In his letter, Sapien said the new civic center is necessary because the former elementary school which now serves as city hall and the cultural arts and recreation center are “absolutely inadequate and full of cancer-causing asbestos.” He added that the recreation center, built in 1961 and used for senior citizens’ meetings and city functions, is a “fire trap” with an overloaded electrical system.

Although City Clerk Darleen Cordova said that no recall petitions have been turned in yet, recall drive organizers have until mid-August to get the 2,165 signatures necessary to force a recall vote.