Attempt to recall Santa Ana councilwoman defeated

A police union-led attempt to recall Santa Ana 3rd Ward City Councilwoman Jessie Lopez was rejected Tuesday.

The no side prevailed 55.32%-44.68%, 3,254-2,628, with all 35 precincts fully reporting, according to figures from the Orange County Registrar of Voters. Turnout was 22%.

Lopez, who was selected by her council colleagues for the mainly ceremonial position of mayor pro tem, has said the Santa Ana Police Officers Association was seeking her ouster because she questioned a requested increase in the police department’s budget at a time when other departments in the city were asked to cut back on spending.

Before the vote count was released, Lopez said, “We’re full of hope and confident that voters will decisively reject this unscrupulous recall and blatant power-seeking maneuver by the police association. Voters have to remind themselves why I’m facing a recall to begin with — because I asked for oversight of taxpayer money and the association did not want that to happen.”

The association has not responded to requests for comment, but in its ballot statement, it said Lopez “brought embarrassment onto the city and displayed disregard for private property rights when she refused to vacate a rental property after being evicted for nonpayment of rent, as reported widely in the media.”

Recall supporters also knocked Lopez for opposing efforts to crack down on illegal street racing.

Lopez said the recall was “initiated by Gerry Serrano and the police officers association after I stood up for a full financial audit to make sure our retired police officers were not having their medical savings used for Gerry’s political campaigns.”

Serrano was president of the union until earlier this year.

A Lopez supporter failed last week in her attempt to persuade an Orange County Superior Court judge to issue a temporary restraining order to block the election, claiming the wrong map was used to determine who was eligible to sign the recall petitions and vote.

Judge Craig Griffin invited the attorneys opposing the recall to file an amended complaint after the election to attempt to have the voting results tossed out.

“I understand the judge reflecting, and needing more time,” Lopez told City News Service. “We were in a similar situation when we found out the wrong map line was used to qualify the recall for the ballot. We are disappointed that this illegitimate recall is moving forward, particularly the more than 1,000 voters who are majority Latino and live in a mobile home park.”

With the recall defeated, a further court challenge would likely be unnecessary.

Meanwhile, Orange County Registrar of Voters Bob Page raised the issue that recall supporters used the current Third Ward map to collect petition signatures instead of the map that existed prior to redistricting. Page said the voters who put Lopez in office are the ones who should decide whether to recall her, but supporters of the recall argue otherwise.

The litigation seeking a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction was filed by Guadalupe Ocampo, who resides in the ward that put Lopez in office in 2020, but no longer lives in her ward since redistricting in 2022.

She questioned whether enough signatures were filed to put the recall on the ballot because signature gatherers used the current ward boundaries and not the prior one.

The lawsuit alleges that 1,186 eligible voters would not receive ballots for the recall election, but 362 ineligible voters will be allowed to cast ballots.

The issue came to light when Page alerted city officials that the backers of the recall used the wrong Ward 3 map when gathering signatures. Since then, Page’s office has issued a “superseding certification to that effect, but (City Clerk Jennifer Hall) and City Council have refused to accept the registrar’s superseding certification and cancel the improper election,” according to the lawsuit.

Ocampo’s lawsuit alleges the recall supporters fell short of properly putting the question to voters by 230 signatures.

When the City Council met to discuss the issue on Oct. 30, it split 3-3, with Lopez recusing herself. One proposal was to cancel the recall election and the other was to take no action. Page told CNS that the deadlock meant he had no choice but to go through with the election because he received no direction from the city as he requested.

Page has said it is up to Hall and the City Council to decide what to do, as the registrar serves as a “contractor” who carries out the mechanics of the election as directed by city officials.

The recall backers said they “did everything they were told to do to qualify the recall for the ballot. … It is unheard of to cancel an election one week in advance. Case law is adamant that a court should not take the drastic step of cancelling an election this close to election day. Both sides have spent money on campaigns. Ballot pamphlets were printed and mailed, and ballots went out. People have begun voting. Polling places have been set up.”

The attorneys for the recall argued that the Santa Ana city charter “uses the new lines, not the old lines.”

But the lawsuit argues that the city’s charter defers to state law on elections, and state law requires that the voters who put the candidate in office have to vote her out.

If voters approved the recall, the council would have to either appoint someone to fill the vacancy or call for a special election, officials said. It would be up to the council to declare the office vacant and then vote on an appointment, but that may be tricky given the 3-3 split on whether to continue the recall. The appointee would serve until the next election, which is next November.

According to the Santa Ana charter, “If the City Council shall fail to fill a vacancy by appointment within 30 days after such an office shall have become vacant, it shall forthwith cause an election to be held to fill such vacancy.”

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