Judge Refuses to Block Bishop Recall Election

An attempt in court to prevent the recall election of Oceanside Vice Mayor Melba Bishop failed Tuesday.

Vista Superior Court Judge Ronald Johnson denied a request by the Oceanside Taxpayers for Orderly Growth for a temporary restraining order blocking the City Council from putting the recall on the citywide ballot.

The group, which supports slow-growth advocate Bishop, had argued that the judge should halt the council from acting and schedule a court hearing into claims that signatures on recall petitions were improperly collected.

However, Johnson, without ruling on the merits of the case, decided that it’s too late to stop the election date from being set because City Clerk Barbara Bishop-Smith already has put the clock in motion by certifying that there were enough valid signatures to qualify the recall for the ballot.

“What we’re concerned with today is whether the actions already have been taken,” said Johnson, adding that he sees “no compelling reason” to prohibit the council from scheduling the recall election.

With the denial of the temporary restraining order, the council is expected Wednesday night to pick an election date in either October or November.

A gleeful Ed Wicburg, leader of the Recall Melba Bishop Campaign, said after Johnson’s favorable ruling, “now we’re going to start a vigorous campaign to oust Melba Bishop from the council.”

Bishop said Oceanside Taxpayers for Orderly Growth will try again to thwart the recall by seeking a preliminary injunction when the group can make its arguments that recall forces illegally hired workers from outside the city to gather signatures.

“We will argue the case on its merits,” Bishop said, complaining that the judge’s refusal to grant a temporary restraining order means an election expected to cost $100,000 to $200,000 now will be scheduled.

“The only people who were losers are the taxpayers. They’re going to have to make expenditures for an election that may or may not happen and may or may not be necessary,” Bishop said.

Recall supporters say they want the two-term councilwoman forced from office because she has abused her power by voting to fire half the city Planning Commission, limit the authority of directly elected Mayor Larry Bagley, and help push budget cuts in police and fire departments.

Bishop and her backers have insisted that the recall is being orchestrated by Bagley and former Councilwoman Lucy Chavez, who was defeated for reelection last November. In that balloting, Bishop helped secure the election of slow-growth allies Nancy York and Don Rodee.

The recall campaign began collecting signatures in January, and, on July 12, Bishop-Smith announced that there were 8,549 valid signatures from voters registered in Oceanside seeking a recall. The names were checked by the county registrar of voters office.

Then, beating Oceanside Taxpayers for Orderly Growth to the punch, City Clerk Bishop-Smith officially certified the recall election during the July 17 council meeting. Her action gave the council 14 days to schedule the election.

In Superior Court Tuesday, the organization’s attorney, Bob Glaser, argued that Bishop-Smith had violated the state’s open-meeting law by hurriedly certifying the recall election.

“There was no Brown Act notice to the public” that the recall issue would be brought before the council, Glaser said.

He asked Johnson to restrain the council from setting an election date long enough to hear his contention that recall forces violated state election law.

That was “defrauding the public,” Glaser declared.

Acting City Atty. Daniel Hentschke didn’t debate the question but told Johnson that the recall signatures have been verified as representing properly registered voters. Bishop-Smith’s certification of the recall election to the council was only a “ministerial duty,” Hentschke said.