Westminster council member recall push hits major milestone – Orange County Register

Dozens of supporters of the recall of Westminster Councilwoman Kimberly Ho gathered at City Hall on the deadline day, Thursday, January 13, to submit 4,045 signed petitions.

The minimum number of signatures required to be summoned by Ho on a ballot is 2,660, about 20% of the registered voters in Ho’s district. The Orange County Registrar of Voters recommends that petitioners have at least 50% more to cover signatures deemed invalid.

The petitions will now be forwarded to the Registrar’s Office for verification. If enough signatures overcome that barrier, the City Council will decide the date of a special election.

Ho said she was “not surprised” that the team had gathered enough signatures for this stage of the process.

“These people will do anything and everything to get a signature,” Ho said.

Attorney Lan Quoc Nguyen, a close associate of Mayor Tri Ta – who has an adversarial relationship with Ho – has been active in the recall effort.

Threatened by a voter’s rights lawsuit, Westminster replaced citywide council elections with counties, requiring candidates to live in the counties they hoped to represent.

The lake represents District 3, covering most of the Little Saigon area. She was highly elected in 2016 and re-elected in her newly drawn district in 2020.

“The recall organizers targeted elderly people who only spoke Vietnamese,” Ho claimed. “In Vietnamese culture, the elderly are the deciders. They tell their children how to vote.”

Dao Tran, 74, a Garden Grove resident, proudly counts herself among that demographic. She and six other women, in a celebratory mood, helped deliver petitions to the City Clerk’s office Thursday.

“We are all over 70 years old!” Tran laughed. “We sat outside at the autograph booth in the rain and wind.”

Dao said Ho had let down Vietnamese-Americans who had defended the council during an earlier recall attempt in 2020. That time, a group tried unsuccessfully to topple Ho, Ta. and Councilman Charlie Nguyen.

“She was on the side of justice back then,” Dao said. “She betrayed us.”

In 2019 and 2020, Ho tended to vote with Ta and Nguyen, and all three formed a credible majority. But she changed course in April 2021 in a Proposal to renovate the Administration Center that they promote. Ho and Councilmembers Tai Do and Carlos Manzo voted against the plan, which involved the sale of city property to a developer.

Since then, Ho has created a new majority with Do and Manzo. The three frequently exchange heated words with Ta and Nguyen during board meetings – especially about a monument that is headed to Sid Goldstein Freedom Park.

After some residents and Vietnam War veterans complained that the park had become overcrowded with memorials, Ho joined Do and Manzo to pause Quang Tri Monument. Supporters of Recall cite the vote as the main reason for Ho’s removal from office.

The same organizers also wanted to remove Manzo from his position. Elected in 2020, Manzo represents District 2.

“Carlos Manzo’s attitude in meetings is terrible,” Tran said. “He looks down on Charlie Nguyen.”

Plaintiffs have until February 5 to gather enough signatures — about 2,140, ​​plus a padding — to put Manzo’s name on a recall ballot.

It is possible that Manzo’s recall election, if it happens, and Ho could be combined on one ballot. But everything will need to quickly fall into place, with time strictly regulated by the state.

The Registrar of Voters Office has 30 business days to complete the signature verification. In Ho’s case, that gives a deadline of February 28. The City Council must then call an election within 14 days, and the next election must be held within that period. between 88 and 125 days thereafter.

Separately, each election will cost the city more than $100,000.

It’s also possible that one or both of the recall votes could be part of the statewide primaries on June 7. But the entire process, including a City Council vote, will need to be completed by March 11 for a primary vote to take place.

“The recall is a huge waste of taxpayer money at a time when our city is facing bankruptcy,” said Ho.

For Dao and other recall proponents, it’s worth the price. “Ho and Manzo,” she said, “are nothing but agitators.”