LYNWOOD — Sylvia Ortiz, a proponent of the proposed recall of Mayor Pro Tem Aide Castro, City Councilman Alfredo Flores and City Clerk Maria Quinoñes, has been notified by acting City Clerk Zeta Barone, that the recall petition has been approved, effective Jan. 28.
Ortiz now has 120 days to collect 4,150 signatures — approximately 20 percent of the city’s registered voters.
The signatures will then go to Barone for review. If there are enough signatures, they will then be submitted to the county Registrar-Recorder’s Office for verification.
Those favoring the recall efforts will have to collect 4,150 signatures for each person they want to recall.
Barone was hired immediately after the notices of intent to recall were officially hand-delivered to Castro, Flores and Quinoñes. City Attorney Fred Galante advised the City Council that it would be a conflict of interest for Quinoñes to handle any part of the recall process. Barone, a retired city clerk, was hired in November to fill in for Quinoñes in regards to the recall. Castro and Flores recused themselves from the vote.
Recall proponents accuse Quinoñes of not knowing how to answer questions that should be routine for city clerks. She is also accused of not being a full-time city clerk because she is never at City Hall, according to recall documents.
The city clerk said she would rather not comment on the recall effort against her, only that it “propels” her to move forward, she said.
Back in November, Castro said her recall notice accuses her of drafting and supporting the highest increase in the utility users tax, drafted and supported and voted for the highest water rate increase in the history of Lynwood, and that she uses vulgar words while on the council dais. Her recall notice also claims that she is the only council member in the city’s history to be elected without a high school diploma.
The only thing that is true, Castro said, is that “I don’t have a high school diploma. … I only have a GED.” The rest of the accusations, Castro said, “are bogus” and lack substance.
Flores said the recall action against him also was bogus. Among the reasons cited in his recall notice are charges that he is a “loner” and that he is not a property owner in Lynwood.
Those types of charges make a mockery of “our democratic system,” Castro said.
But Ortiz and her supporters are serious about the recall effort. “There’s a lot of money behind it,” said one resident who asked to remain anonymous. “They want [Castro, Flores, Quinoñes] out.”
In a telephone interview this week, Ortiz said getting the petitions approved was a lengthy process. The petition was denied several times for corrections by Barone, she said, once because of grammatical errors and spelling in one of the responses turned in by one of the council members.
“Finally, we got the OK, though,” she said. “And my people are out there as we speak circulating the petition and collecting signatures. … And from what I understand, people are eager to sign it.”
Concerns Ortiz has heard in the last couple of days from residents she has approached revolve around city utility bills and the cost of living in the city.
“This year the council voted to cease raises for water until next July,” Ortiz said. “But, they’ve been raising that bill annually for the last six years, along with the trash bill. … People see their bills going up, going up, and never going down … so people are very frustrated.”
Ortiz said that Lynwood residents pay the same amount in utility bills that people in other areas pay, and still those cities are better policed, and better taken care of.
“I don’t know how the city can claim to have the lowest crime rate … what part of the city are they talking about,” she said. “Because I live right here on Peach and Louise, and the helicopters are out every single day. … Those low numbers may look good on paper, but it’s not the reality.”
Ortiz said that she wanted to let people know that her efforts and the recall effort will be legal and straight. In fact, she said, a committee has been opened in its name.
In a brief interview Wednesday, Castro said she would like to know more about the committee, and if it is a legal effort, then Ortiz should have no problem making the committee and its members public.
Castro said she has known Ortiz for many, many years and is 100 percent certain that when Ortiz knocks on people’s doors to solicit their signatures, that she’s not going to be truthful.
“I already know that she’s not going to tell people the truth,” Castro said, adding that she’s already been advised of the recall’s financial backers. “It’s unfortunate that the very people who are supporting her are the very people she and I worked to rid the city of, even people from the council. Sylvia knows that these people are bad for the community.”
The recall, Castro said, has no basis. Ortiz can do whatever she needs to do, Castro said, “and I’m going to do whatever I need to do.”
The elected officials are not going to go down without a fight, she added.
“Sylvia will always twist the truth to her convenience. … Unfortunately, she tries to scare people so they can support her recall efforts,” Castro said. “There’s no real reason behind this recall, other than her personal interest, and whoever is paying her to do it.”
The last successful recall effort saw four council members — including one who had served on the council for more than 10 years — ousted. That was because they were making careless decisions and they were putting people’s homes in danger, Castro said.
“That can’t be said about this council,” Castro said.
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