IRVINE : Recall Organizers to Recheck Petitions

Recall proponents who failed to qualify an election against three council members said Monday they will begin rechecking disqualified signatures in an effort to reverse their defeat.

Recall leader Gary Kingsbury worked out an agreement with city and county officials on Monday to examine signatures at the county registrar of voters office under the supervision of city officials. Kingsbury’s Irvine Recall Committee targeted Mayor Michael Ward and council members Barry J. Hammond and Paula Werner for their July, 1994, approval of a plan to borrow $62 million to make an additional investment in the county investment pool, which then failed. The recall drive fell short by about 1,700 signatures for Werner and about 600 signatures each for Ward and Hammond.

Kingsbury said he has asked for a ruling from the California secretary of state on whether City Clerk Judy Vonada erred in refusing to accept another 729 signatures to recall Ward and Hammond. Vonada said she did not accept the signatures because they were turned in at the end of the deadline day after other signatures already had been tallied. She said state election laws require signatures to be turned in at the same time.

After volunteers inspect the disqualified signatures, Kingsbury said, he will then decide whether to take legal action.

Ward called Kingsbury’s efforts, which have cost the city $72,000 to date, a waste of time and money. “One of the so-called technical reasons those signatures were disqualified is that when his people signed the petitions, they weren’t registered voters,” Ward said. “He’s doing this to keep his name in front of the public.”