Cypress Recall Principals Get Their Say

* It is hard to believe that The Times can be so one-sided. (“O.C. Votes Itself the Recall Capital,” Oct. 1.) You interviewed the people behind the Cypress recall. Why didn’t you interview the three targets of the Cypress recall? There are two sides to every story.

You say we are being recalled because we approved carpet distribution “near a peaceful residential neighborhood.”

It is also next to an air base! It is also in a business park zoned for warehouse use for the past 25 years!

Here are some other facts missing from that story:

* The Shaw Warehouse will bring in $800,000 annually to the city’s general fund.

* The warehouse conforms to our General Plan.

* There will be less traffic from the warehouse than from an alternative office building/retail project.

* This self-serving group sued one of the landowners and settled out-of-court for an undisclosed sum.

A group of people who didn’t agree with the unanimous decision of the City Council sued the city. They lost. They sued another landowner. They lost. They complained to the Federal Aviation Administration. They lost. Now they are trying to recall us at a cost of more than $70,000 to the city.

Bob Pepper, one of the recall leaders, is quoted in your story as saying: “We’re their ultimate employers and they have forgotten that. They don’t have the right to disagree.”

Who made Bob Pepper the King of Cypress? What about the people who think the warehouse is a good idea? Please let us know how to make all the people agree all the time.

The facts are clear: The Shaw warehouse project is good for all of Cypress.

MAYOR CECILIA L. AGE

COUNCILMAN WALTER K. BOWMAN

COUNCILWOMAN GAIL KERRY

Cypress

* Your recall article is right on point. The American public has complained for years about politicians who abandon their campaign promises and turn their backs on the electorate. The emergence of the recall initiative in Orange County is an example of democracy at its best.

The people of Orange County are fed up with arrogant politicians who believe they can act in defiance of the citizens once they are elected. We have discovered that the recall process is a valuable tool for holding politicians accountable.

The recall effort in Cypress to oust Age, Bowman and Kerry is a classic example.

Cypress residents, like other citizens throughout Orange County, are proving that the people do have the power to hold politicians accountable and that the recall initiative provides the vehicle to exercise that power. Orange County is leading the nation in a movement by the people to regain control of our state and local governments.

ROBERT J. PEPPER

Cypress Recall Committee