STANTON : Group Seeks Recall of Sapien, Harris

The campaign to recall Councilman Sal Sapien is moving ahead, but organizers have not yet served recall papers on Councilman Joe V. Harris, according to Robert K. Hyun, leader of the effort.

Both council members are being targeted for recall because they supported a 6% city utility tax and refused to oppose Measure A, a special June 8 ballot measure that would have allowed card clubs in the city.

Eighty percent of the city’s voters rejected the measure.

Harris publicly supported Measure A, saying card clubs would bring the city millions of dollars that could be spent on public safety.

“I have a responsibility to find those dollars,” Harris said in defense after learning about the recall campaign.

The card clubs could have replaced a utility tax or deep spending cuts, he said, adding: “I was asking the citizens to consider a third option.”

Harris has been out of town for two weeks because of a family emergency, so the recall group has been unable to serve him the required notice of its intent.

“I understand that they are trying to contact me,” the councilman said. “I haven’t been served yet, but I’m out in the open here.”

Sapien never publicly gave his opinion about card clubs, saying he did not want to influence the election. But recall organizers charge that his public comments about the possible revenue benefits of the clubs indicated support.

“I wanted to hear what the voters had to say,” Sapien said. “I didn’t want to sway them in either direction.”

Sapien, the target of a failed recall effort in 1991, said he is unfazed by the latest campaign. “It’s just the usual vendetta of people who are against progress,” he said.

To hold a recall election, the organizers must first notify the subjects and have the city clerk approve the official recall petitions.

City Clerk Darleen Cordova said she will return to the organizers today the first draft of the recall petition against Sapien. “They’ll need to make changes,” Cordova said. “It’s a little too detailed to get it right the first time.”

The organizers will have to use the recall petitions to collect signatures from 20% of the city’s 10,675 registered voters.