Petitions Filed to Recall 2 Hospital Officials

Organizers of an effort to recall two members of the governing board of the Antelope Valley Hospital Medical Center in Lancaster on Tuesday filed voter petitions with the Los Angeles County registrar of voters office.

The office now has 30 days to check the validity of the petitions filed by recall supporters against hospital board members Steve Fox and Anne Brouillette, who were elected by Antelope Valley voters last November.

Recall proponents said they had gathered 24,774 signatures against Fox and 24,892 signatures against Brouillette. They needed to collect valid signatures from 14,339 voters--or 15% of those registered in the area--to force a recall election of either board member.

The petitions were submitted one week after the two hospital board members voted to oust John T. Evans from his $165,000-a-year job as administrator of the publicly run, 341-bed hospital, the largest in the Antelope Valley.