Santa Ana Unified Moves Recall Election to Feb. 4

Santa Ana Unified School District officials Wednesday moved the recall election of trustee Nativo V. Lopez to Feb. 4, three weeks ahead of the originally scheduled date.

They switched the date in hopes of holding the special election on the same date as an anticipated election to fill a county supervisorial seat, which could save the school district tens of thousands of dollars.

District officials said they learned Wednesday that the Orange County registrar of voters had picked Feb. 4 as the probable date for a special election for County Supervisor Todd Spitzer’s seat, should he win his bid for state Assembly on Nov. 5.

On Tuesday, the trustees set Feb. 25 as the date for a final showdown in the heated recall battle but left open the possibility that the date might change.

The cost of the recall election to the school district has been estimated at between $100,000 to $200,000.

Although the 3rd Supervisorial District does not share boundaries with the school district, because the county registrar conducts the elections, costs could be shared with the county by holding the elections on the same date.

Recall supporters blame Lopez and his allies on the school board for failure to build much-needed new schools and for low test scores in the 62,000-student district.

Lopez has vowed to challenge the signatures on recall petitions. He also has accused his opponents of being motivated by the board’s decision to put a new school in a relatively affluent neighborhood in north Santa Ana.