Sanchez Recall Effort Begins Collecting Signatures
Organizers of a recall effort against Councilman Ricardo Sanchez have begun collecting signatures, alleging that Sanchez has abused his position during his 11-month tenure on the council.
Supporters of the recall campaign allege in the petitions that Sanchez strong-armed merchants for money, had city workers put in a concrete drive at his home and excessively used the city’s credit card.
Sanchez said the allegations were untrue and that his opponents on the City Council--Mayor Armando Rea and Mayor Pro Tem Arturo Reyes--were behind the recall effort.
“They need someone to rubber stamp everything they do,” he said. “I’m not like that, and that’s why they want to get me out.”
Rea did not return calls, but Reyes said that neither he nor Rea is involved with the recall effort.
“The problem is not with Armando and myself,” he said. “[Sanchez] has the problem with the community. They do not trust him.”
Following city procedures, City Clerk Andrea Hooper last week gave recall advocates 120 days to gather the names of 20% of the city’s 16,235 registered voters in order to force Sanchez to defend his seat.
Sanchez was elected last November for a four-year term.
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