2 Interested in Allen’s Assembly Seat if She’s Recalled

Two Huntington Beach women announced their candidacies Wednesday for the 67th District Assembly seat that will be vacated if Speaker Doris Allen is recalled from office.

Republicans Haydee V. Tillotson, the former chairwoman of the Huntington Beach Chamber of Commerce, and Shirley Carey, a Huntington Beach City School District trustee, said their names will appear on the same ballot as the recall question.

No recall has been scheduled yet, but Allen’s foes, who turned in their final batch of petitions Monday, are confident they have collected enough signatures to qualify the recall for the ballot.

Recall forces are angry that Allen, a Cypress Republican, won the speakership by relying on support from Assembly Democrats.

Tillotson, 56, made the announcement before about 50 friends and elected officials at her Bolsa Chica Road campaign office. She declared her candidacy is based on the need “to get Orange County back on track.”

“We need to get government out of our hair,” said Tillotson, a member of the Huntington Beach Planning Commission who owns a real estate development firm. “We pay so much in taxes, but the more money we give to government, the more government is going to waste and misspend.”

Carey, 56, a registered nurse and Huntington Beach resident for 26 years, is in her second term on the school board. In 1994, she was the leading vote-getter in the board election.

“My candidacy is based on the fact that we need a strong advocate for health-care issues and public education,” said Carey, who works at Huntington Beach Medical Center.

The 67th Assembly District is located in northwest Orange County and includes: Cypress, Huntington Beach, Los Alamitos and Seal Beach; the community of Rossmoor; most of Fountain Valley and La Palma, and small parts of Westminster, Buena Park, Garden Grove, Stanton and Anaheim.