San Gabriel Valley : Mayor Hints at Suit Against Recall Leaders
Covina Mayor Thomas M. O’Leary is calling a new recall petition against him and two other council members libelous and said he is willing to sue if the language is is not deleted.
But members of the recall group, Covina Citizens for United Action, say the mayor, who is a Los Angeles-based attorney, is just trying to intimidate them and they won’t be scared into changing a word of the petition, which accuses O’Leary of “negligence.”
“O’Leary’s attempting to stall this recall and he hopes to wear us down,” said Hank Vagt, group president. “If he can’t take the heat he should get out of City Hall.”
The group wants to recall council members O’Leary, Linda Sarver and Thomas Falls for being part of a council majority that voted for an 8.25% utility tax last November after being elected on a no-tax platform. A similar recall against the trio foundered in May when a judge ruled petitions were incomplete.
The new recall petition, which City Clerk Joey Southall has sent back to the authors for revisions to comply with state law, says the three showed “negligence in the discharge of fiduciary responsibilities.”
“There is no way they can avoid that this charges us with an illegal act we did not commit,” O’Leary said.
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