IRVINE : Backers of Recall Distribute Flyers

Despite the threat of legal action by Mayor Michael Ward, recall proponents made good on their promise to distribute controversial flyers over the weekend that demand the recall of Ward and two council members.

Recall leader Gary Kingsbury blanketed the city’s Westpark community Saturday and Sunday with flyers alleging that Ward and council members Barry J. Hammond and Paula Werner broke a no-tax pledge to compensate for losses from the county bankruptcy.

The three officials have been targeted for recall for their July, 1994, vote to borrow $62 million to make an additional investment in the county’s investment pool, which collapsed late last year.

Ward said the single-sheet flyers are a deliberate distortion of the truth and said last week that he will take legal action against Kingsbury if he continues to distribute the flyers.

The council approved an increase in park bond taxes for Westpark residents last month. Ward said the increase was mandated by a voter-approved formula based on property values. Losses to the park fund from the county bankruptcy were repaid with money from the city’s asset management plan, Ward said.

“This whole thing is political,” Ward said. “It has nothing to do with the Orange County investment pool.”

But Kingsbury contends that if council members had managed city investments wisely, they would not need to raise assessment district fees.