Judge Delays Hawaiian Gardens Recall Vote

Reversing the sequence of two recall elections against four Hawaiian Gardens council members, a Los Angeles Superior Court judge Monday postponed an election set for next week to determine the fate of Councilwoman Kathleen Navejas.

Superior Court Judge Diane Wayne ruled that a council majority violated state public meeting laws by failing to provide a 24-hour notice about a June meeting to certify recall petitions against Navejas.

The ruling voids the council’s action at the special June 26 meeting, in which council members scheduled for Sept. 24 a recall election against Navejas. No further penalty is attached to the ruling.

Wayne’s decision follows a related ruling Aug. 30, in which she set a recall election against three of Navejas’ council opponents for Dec. 3. In a tentative ruling that is being appealed by the city attorney’s office, Wayne said the city clerk and the council members had conspired to avoid placing the recall affecting the three council members on the ballot in November, when a heavier voter turnout is expected.

Wayne did not set a date for Navejas’ recall election, but the earliest it could be scheduled is Dec. 17.

Some say the recall elections could provide city voters an opportunity to voice their opinion on the delays that have blocked the opening of a voter-approved card club. Navejas’ opponents say she has resisted its opening even though the city desperately needs the revenues. She charges that the council majority--Mayor Lupe Cabrera and council members Robert Canada and Robert Prida--have mismanaged city finances.