SAN CLEMENTE : Formal Notice of Recall Effort Filed

A group of residents and business owners angered by a 4-1 City Council decision last month to disband the Police Department are pressing ahead with efforts to halt the action.

On Friday, the group filed with the city clerk’s office a formal notice of its intent to recall the four council members who voted for contracting with the Sheriff’s Department. Following a City Council meeting last Wednesday, the group served formal notices to the council members targeted for recall.

After the council members have had time to answer the charges, the group must file proposed recall petitions with City Clerk Myrna Erway.

Once the petitions are approved by the city clerk, the group will have 120 days to collect about 5,000 signatures from the estimated 25,000 registered voters in San Clemente to force a recall election.

Mayor Truman Benedict and council members Joseph Anderson, Scott Diehl and Candace Haggard have said they will fight the recall drive. They said they stand by their decision to try to save $2 million and increase patrols in the coming fiscal year by contracting for services with the Sheriff’s Department. The city is facing a budget shortfall of $6.35 million.

Meanwhile, organizers of the recall drive worked Monday to prepare a petition calling for an initiative vote to overturn the council’s decision to disband the 65-year-old Police Department.

“It will be asking for the City Council to reinstate the status of the Police Department,” said Police Capt. Simon G. Zervos, a resident helping to organize the effort to overturn the action. “This is the most important aspect.”

The proposed initiative petition is being reviewed by the group’s attorney and could be ready for filing by midweek, Zervos said.

The group would need to collect about 3,750 signatures from registered voters in San Clemente to force an initiative onto the ballot. Zervos said the group will continue with the recall effort no matter what comes of the initiative campaign.

A final contract from the Sheriff’s Department will be brought back to the council for approval later this spring. A target date of July 1 has been set for the change in police power.