Recalls in the San Gabriel Valley

Currently in the San Gabriel Valley, I’ve read of three separate recall proposals in just the last week.  In Baldwin Park, three city council members were served on Wednesday (June 16). Three school board members from Pico Rivera were served with recall papers on June 13. Also, there has been a building drumbeat (but no actual petition drafted) to recall Three Valleys Water District Board Member Xavier Alvarez.

I don’t know enough about the first two to have an opinion, but I wouldn’t mind seeing Alvarez recalled.

Still, as of today, I’ll be willing to bet money that none of the three ever make it to the ballot. People who haven’t participated in a municipal or local government recall campaign have no idea how hard it is to qualify one of these for an election. The number of signatures you need depends on the number of registered voters in the district or city. For most SGV cities, that means 20% of the total registered.  By contrast, for a statewide recall, you only need 10 percent of the number who voted in that election.  That works out to 4-6% of the state's registered voters.