Q & A : Gary Kingsbury, Irvine Recall Committee

For the first time in the 24-year history of Irvine, council members may face a recall election. If former Democratic congressional candidate Gary Kingsbury and his Irvine Recall Committee are successful, three may face the voters. Kingsbury’s group recently began a petition drive to gather a minimum of 8,400 signatures from the city’s 56,000 registered voters. Kingsbury has targeted Mayor Michael Ward and council members Barry J. Hammond and Paula Werner for their vote in July, 1994, to borrow $62 million--an amount equivalent to the city’s annual operations budget--to make an additional investment in the ill-fated county pool. Council members Christina L. Shea and Greg Smith voted against the plan. Kingsbury recently spoke with Times correspondent Russ Loar.

Q: Your critics call you a “political opportunist” and say the recall drive is inspired by your ambitions for higher office and backed by longtime critics of city government. What are your reasons for launching the recall drive?

A: We don’t want to do a recall. They can take action right now that would end the recall by reassigning or replacing City Manager Paul Brady. My big impetus for this is government reform, to have real leadership on the council. We clearly see the city staff leading the council to the answers that they want to hear. That was clear on the $62 million amount they were borrowing.

Q: But council members say that nearly all financial experts in and out of the city advised them that the investment would be safe. And they had a track record with a similar investment in 1993 that earned the city about $2 million. Why single out Irvine council members when all but two Orange County cities put money in the investment pool?

A: They’re not like every other city in the county, that’s the No. 1 reason for the recall. The only other city like Irvine is Anaheim. They’re the only two cities that borrowed money to bet on Citron’s pool. This deal of claiming they are victims is an attempt to cover up their incompetence. They were playing a high-level finance game, and they were unable to understand it.

Q: Your critics say your real motive for the recall is to gain public office. Will you run for the City Council if your recall effort is successful?

A: That’s getting the cart in front of the horse. But I’m not going to go out and get 9,000 signatures and allow [Mayor] Mike Ward to run unopposed for mayor again. I’m not going to support anyone who would not be coming into the Irvine City Council to clean house. The trouble I see here in Irvine is that, if we don’t change the players, nothing else is going to matter. We’re going to take very careful consideration in who we endorse.