Group Revives Fledgling Bid to Oust Hernandez

After its first attempt fizzled, a group seeking to recall City Councilman Mike Hernandez revived its campaign Wednesday, pledging to unseat the lawmaker who pleaded no contest to felony cocaine possession charges.

Rudy Tenorio de Cordova, a leader of the recall effort, said the group plans to hire a professional fund-raiser and consultant to help the fledgling campaign. The group dissolved its first effort last week, blaming mismanagement.

“We are like a lean, mean recall machine now,” De Cordova said. “I encourage Mr. Hernandez to encourage his constituents to come to our office, sign the petitions . . . and let’s let the voters decide.”

Hernandez, who has hired a campaign consultant to fight the recall, said, “All I know is they’ve tried once already. . . . They continue to want to waste taxpayers’ money [on a recall election].”

Recall supporters, who published their intent to recall Hernandez in a legal notice in a local newspaper Wednesday, could begin collecting voters’ signatures for a special recall election in a month. Hernandez has 14 days to reply to the notice.

The recall supporters must begin anew collecting signatures of registered voters in the district; they need about 6,400 to qualify for a special election.

But while the movement to unseat the councilman so far has come mostly from parts of Lincoln Heights and the Pico-Union area, it appears that the effort may receive some support from other portions of the district as well.

Several sources have said groups in Mt. Washington and Chinatown have expressed support for Hernandez’s recall.

After pleading no contest following his arrest last summer, he was placed in a drug diversion program, allowing him to avoid jail time and a felony conviction if he completes a rehabilitation program.

The councilman admitted addictions to cocaine and alcohol after authorities tracked him on several occasions buying and apparently using drugs.

Although some community leaders say they are interested in aiding the recall effort, they express concern about lending their names if the campaign is unsuccessful.

“You’ll have hell to pay,” said one who declined to be identified. “People still have to live here, work here.”

When asked if he was concerned that communities outside his district’s overwhelmingly Latino core could be involved in an effort to oust him, Hernandez said: “I can’t run my office under the threat of recall. I just have to run my office.”

Hernandez has maintained that he is a more effective representative now that he is sober and dealing with his personal problems.

But recall supporters view him quite differently.

“This is not only a 1st District issue, it’s a citywide issue,” De Cordova said. “His refusal to step down . . . tarnishes the city.”

The 1st District is mostly Latino and political consultants have said it would be tough for a modestly financed, grass-roots campaign to gather the required signatures.