FULLERTON : 2% Utility Tax OKd; Recall Effort Begun

Setting the stage for a recall campaign, the City Council gave final approval to a 2% utility tax Wednesday morning after a five-hour meeting at which more than 75 people railed against the surcharge and the council members who supported it.

The tax on water, telephone, electricity, natural gas and cable television bills has been strongly opposed by the Chamber of Commerce and hundreds of residents who attended recent public hearings on the plan to generate revenue.

“The people have spoken loud and clear,” said chamber member Thomas J. O’Neill, who opposed the tax. “The only explanation is that the council does not want to hear from the public.”

Mayor Molly McClanahan and council members A.B. (Buck) Catlin and Don Bankhead voted for the tax, saying it is needed to fund police and fire services.

Council members Julie Sa and Chris Norby opposed the tax, arguing that it will hurt businesses and residents. They called instead for deeper cuts in city spending.

In a related action, the council also approved the city’s 1993-94 budget by a 3-2 vote. It outlines a 5% cut in general fund spending from last year, with jobs eliminated in the police, fire, maintenance, community services and library departments.

City staff estimates that the utility tax, to go in effect this fall, will raise $1.6 million for the new fiscal year and cost the average household about $4.40 each month.

Hoping to foil council approval and force a public vote on the tax, a group of residents at the meeting initiated an attempt to recall Bankhead and Catlin. The group isn’t targeting McClanahan, although she supported the tax.

Snow Hume, a recall organizer, said before the meeting that the recall effort would be dropped if the council called for an election on the tax issue.

But no council member called for an election, and recall papers were formally served on Bankhead and Catlin. To set a recall election, organizers will have to collect signatures from 15% of the city’s 55,527 registered voters.

The crowded meeting was frequently raucous, with loud applause for every speaker against taxes and booing for some of the few tax supporters.

The supporters said it is necessary to maintain such city services as the library, a public swimming pool and parks.

“I am willing to pay for that quality of life. I am willing to work for it,” said resident Chris Heusser.