Cypress Recall Effort Failing in Early Tally

Orange County’s historic passion for recalling elected leaders ebbed Tuesday in this suburban community, where returns indicated three targeted City Council members were holding onto their seats.

All three incumbents were leading by a ratio of about 2 to 1 with about a quarter of the votes counted, and all three were claiming victory.

The Tuesday recall targeted Mayor Cecilia L. Age, Councilwoman Gail H. Kerry and Councilman Walter K. Bowman, because they had voted to allow a large, 24-hour-operation carpet warehouse to be built.

“We all did the same campaigning. Either all three of us were going to win or all three of us were going down,” Age said as the first votes were counted. “I never once thought we would lose. But it was a matter of numbers and so far we’ve got the numbers.”

Some city officials said the final, unofficial tally may not be known until Thursday. Last month, 1,354 absentee ballots were mailed erroneously to Cypress voters who did not request them. Checking those ballots Tuesday night complicated and delayed the election-counting process, city officials said.

Cypress voters will have the unusual distinction of voting in recall elections twice in the same month. On Nov. 28, residents here and in the other cities in Assemblywoman Doris Allen’s district will decide whether to recall her. Tuesday’s recall cost the city $70,000.

Both elections continue a surge in recall activity in Orange County in the past two years. Besides the Cypress council and Allen campaigns, separate recalls are underway against two members of the Dana Point City Council and against Superior Court Judge Everett W. Dickey. Efforts to oust three county supervisors began after last year’s bankruptcy, but all were dropped or ruled invalid. Another bankruptcy-fueled effort targeting a majority of the Irvine City Council fell short of the required number of signatures last month, though organizers said they have not given up.

Backers of the Cypress recall charged that the warehouse is an environmental disaster for nearby residents. The incumbents have disagreed and said the warehouse will bring the city $800,000 a year in taxes.

Burt Cheifer, a sales representative, and Regan E. Smith, a homemaker-businesswoman, ran for Age’s seat. Tim Keenan and Jerry L. Sharber, both business owners, sought Kerry’s position. Paula English, a business owner, Lynda B. Lacayo, a reporter-businesswoman, and Gina Restivo, an attorney, ran for Bowman’s seat.

Smith, Sharber and English were running as a team. They were all part of the original recall movement. The other candidates, while saying they deplored the carpet warehouse, had not been active in the recall.

The three incumbents watched the election returns with supporters at the Ramada Inn here. The mood grew jubilant as the vote total grew.

“This means we were never wrong,” Age said. “There was just a small percentage of people that became obsessed.”

Kerry said, “I think this shows the people of Cypress are behind what we did.”

As the earliest returns came in, Age said voter turnout would decide the incumbents’ fate.

“The higher the vote turnout the better for us. That was the key,” she said.

Recall activists wore increasingly worried and gloomy looks as the evening wore on.

“It obviously doesn’t look good for the citizens of Cypress,” said Bob Pepper, president of the Cypress Recall Committee. Pepper and other recall activists said they were not ready to concede, but noted the vote count seemed to be running against them.

The special election also had nine questions on the ballot asking the voters’ opinions of proposed projects in the city. Early returns showed mixed results, with some winning and some losing. Recall activists had urged voters to reject all nine proposals, charging that the City Council placed them there only to detract from the recall.

Measure A asked if voters favored spending $2.5 million for renovations to Arnold/Cypress Park; Measure B was for about $250,000 in soccer field renovations; Measure C was for $35 million for a new park near Valley View and Katella; Measure D was for $3 million for a cultural arts facility; Measure E was for $3.5 million in flood-control works; Measure F was for $250,000 for a care facility for disabled adults; Measure G was $2.5 million for a multiuse center at Veterans Park; Measure H was for $295,000 for better lighting on youth sports fields, and Measure I was about dedicating 20% of the city’s revenue from the carpet warehouse to improved sports fields.

The controversial warehouse that started the recall is now about half built at the corner of Valley View and Orangewood streets. It will cover 439,650 square feet and will be a regional distribution center for Shaw Industries, a Georgia-based carpet manufacturer.

Even if there are changes on the five-member City Council, the fate of the warehouse is uncertain. Opponents say that construction on the building must stop until there is a new environmental impact report. The opponents lost their argument in a lower court case, but it is currently under appeal.

Times correspondent Enrique Lavin contributed to this story.