Huntington Beach recall petitioners fall short in round one of signature collecting

Recall petitioners in Huntington Beach have failed to get the signatures required to trigger a special election to replace Mayor Barbara Delgleize and Councilwoman Natalie Moser.

Proponents did not file petition documents with the City Clerk’s office by the deadline of 5 p.m. Monday, City Clerk Robin Estanislau confirmed.

The conservative petitioners, who formed a group called Save Surf City last summer, announced in a press release Monday that their volunteer staff had not met the minimum of 13,282 signatures needed against Delgleize and Moser. They did not disclose how many signatures they did collect in the 160 days allotted to them, but said they “came very close.”

The group has two more weeks to continue collecting signatures in an effort to oust Mayor Pro Tem Mike Posey, Councilman Dan Kalmick and Councilwoman Kim Carr.

The reason there were two different deadlines for the petitioners in their attempt to recall all of the City Council is related to an issue that cropped up last summer when Save Surf City missed a paperwork filing deadline.

The 160-day deadline for the outstanding recall effort against Posey, Kalmick and Carr is Feb. 23 at 5 p.m., Estanislau said.

“We fully anticipate reaching the required number to force a recall election on all three,” said a representative of Save Surf City, who declined to give his or her name, in an email.

The minimum number of signatures required represents 10% of the registered voters in Surf City. However, the Orange County Registrar of Voters office recommends 5% above that total to compensate for ineligible signers, which would be just south of 20,000 signatures.

Recall proponents have cited issues like the council’s tussles with City Atty. Michael Gates and the appointment of Rhonda Bolton rather than holding a special election after Tito Ortiz resigned last June as among key reasons for the effort. But a commentary published in August, signed by 13 former Huntington Beach City Council members, called the recall bid a publicity stunt initiated by “political agitators and bullies.”

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