OCEANSIDE — Some residents are attempting to place a recall of two council members on a ballot this year.
City Clerk Zeb Navarro has approved petition formats for the recall of council members Esther Sanchez and Christopher Rodriguez. A petition format is the petition proponents would distribute for signatures.
Proponents of Sanchez’s recall have until May 27 to submit 3,944 signatures to the City Clerk’s office, and proponents of Rodriguez’s recall have until June 5 to submit 4,456 signatures.
Navarro said the difference between the number of signatures needed for either council member is based on the size of the districts they represent.
“District 2 has more registered voters than District 1,” Navarro said via email. “The numbers needed for each petition is based on 20% of the registered voters in each district.”
Sanchez represents District 1 and Rodriguez represents District 2 on City Council.
There was an earlier attempt made to start a recall against Rodriguez late last year, but its proponents did not meet the deadline to file a petition format with the City Clerk’s office. Because they missed the deadline, proponents have to start over.
If either recall gets enough signatures, according to Navarro, then it will go through the signature verification process with the Registrar of Voters. If enough signatures are verified, voters will get to decide whether or not they want to recall the council members.
“Depending on when either recall campaign submits their petition, it will be a special standalone election or consolidated with the November election,” Navarro said.
In her official response, Sanchez said the attempt to recall her is an “attack on my championing you, the Good People of Oceanside” as well as her vote against the North River Farms development project and her campaign for mayor.
Sanchez was “born and raised” in the district she represents. She has been a council member for 20 years.
“I dedicated my life to our community, including 20 years as a deputy public defender,” her response states.
Sanchez lists multiple accomplishments she made during her time on council, including the establishment afterschool programs, additional fire stations and pushing for the Oceanside Museum of Art expansion as well as the California Surf Museum. She also said she “led in creating over 1,000 new affordable housing units.”
Rodriguez was elected to his seat in 2018.
“My focus is on the city of Oceanside and continuing to overcome our challenges and meet the goals that I was elected to accomplish,” Rodriguez previously told The Coast News during the previous attempt to recall him. “Our community is getting stronger, and I’m proud to represent my constituents in District 2 and the city as a whole.”
1 comment
You listed their reasons they are helping the city..you did not list the reasons people are trying to recall them.
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