Recall Group Asks 2 Trustees to Resign

A group intent on recalling two members of the Ventura County Board of Education called for their resignation Monday, saying it would be the last chance for the targeted individuals to “do the right thing.”

Richard Weston-Jones, who is leading a recall effort against Wendy Larner of Ojai and Angela N. Miller of Ventura, stepped up to the podium minutes before the board’s monthly meeting began and asked the two to step down.

Larner and Miller have said they have no intention of resigning their elected posts.

A grass-roots group of about 50 residents in Ventura, Oxnard and Ojai have organized a group calling itself RECALL in an attempt to remove the Board of Education members. A recall petition was filed against Miller last week; one will be filed against Larner today, Weston-Jones said.

Separate recall campaigns must be conducted because Miller and Larner are elected from different districts. Recall supporters have roughly 160 days to collect about 15,000 signatures in each district.

Recall backers said they have been provoked by Miller and Larner’s March to suspend the use of speakers from Planned Parenthood and AIDS Care at teacher-training workshops organized by the county superintendent of schools office.

Also on Monday, the five-member board voted unanimously to ask the state attorney general to provide a legal opinion on whether the board had the authority to ban Planned Parenthood and AIDS Care from the teacher training.