Group of Irvine Activists to Consider City Council Recall : Politics: Leaders blame city officials for poor investment decisions leading to losses in the county bankruptcy. Support for effort remains to be seen.

A group of political activists will meet Friday to consider launching a recall movement against City Council members whom they blame for poor investment decisions leading to losses in the county bankruptcy.

The Irvine Coalition for Public Responsibility, a group founded in December by former Democratic congressional candidate Gary Kingsbury, has repeatedly called for the firing of the city manager and key staff members. The group will meet at 6:30 p.m. Friday in the Irvine Ranch Water District boardroom. But it remains to be seen how much support the fledgling organization can generate among Irvine residents.

“This is either going to be a group activity or it is not,” said Kingsbury, a 43-year-old training consultant. “If there’s not enough interest, I’ll let it go.”

Kingsbury is critical of the City Council’s decision in July to borrow $62 million to invest in the now-failed county pool. Council members Greg Smith and Christina Shea voted against the plan.

Mayor Michael Ward, who approved the plan with council members Barry J. Hammond and Paula Werner, calls the group’s recall probe “political opportunism.”

“They’re talking about recalling the City Council, firing the city manager and the finance director, but they can’t point out where anybody did anything wrong,” Ward said.

Hammond, who failed to win the Republican nomination to the state Assembly last year, said some recall proponents are longtime political enemies.

“This has absolutely nothing to do with concern over the investments of the city,” Hammond said. “This comes down to 20-20 hindsight. My 20-20 hindsight is just as good as theirs.”