Mayor to Give Residents a Say on Tax : Utilities: Covina official reverses his position in the wake of recall efforts against three council members. A referendum on whether to continue the 8.25% levy is likely to be held in November.

In a reversal of his position, Covina Mayor Thomas M. O’Leary has agreed that voters should be allowed to give their opinion on the controversial utility tax adopted last fall by the City Council.

O’Leary’s change of mind came in the wake of a recall effort against three council members--including him--that gathered thousands of signatures but was ruled invalid on technical grounds.

His reversal also presumably creates a majority among the five-member council for scheduling an advisory referendum in November on continuing the 8.25% tax. Council members John Wilcox and Linda Sarver have said they support scheduling the referendum.

O’Leary will seek a council vote June 6 on the referendum issue. He, Wilcox and Sarver also have said they would abide by the results of the referendum and, if the tax loses, vote to repeal it.

Ironically, O’Leary led a successful campaign two years ago to recall Covina’s entire council because it had passed a 6% utility tax. He then rode the anti-tax wave to a seat on the council, emphasizing a “read my lips” vow of no new taxes.

Last fall, however, he said he was wrong in making that pledge and that, without a utility tax, there was no way to balance the city budget without closing the library, abolishing the parks and recreation department and shutting down one of the city’s three fire stations. So he joined a council majority in voting for a new, larger utility tax.

Others supporting the new tax were Sarver and council member Thomas C. Falls, who also had made a no-tax pledge in winning their seats during the recall battle in 1993. Along with O’Leary, Sarver and Falls were targeted by the recent recall effort.

O’Leary explained his decision to back an advisory referendum by saying he was impressed by the response to the recall petitions, each of which had more than 5,000 signatures. “The signatures demonstrate enough residents are concerned about the tax for a vote to coincide with the city’s . . . November school board elections,” O’Leary said.

The recall petitions were declared invalid by the city attorney because the words Recall Petition and the names of those backing the bid were not on every page.

Recall proponents say regardless of what the council decides about a November vote, they will go to court early next month to ask a judge to validate the petitions and order a recall election.