People hoping to oust Natalie Rubalcava from her seat on the Anaheim City Council said Wednesday that they’ve gathered more than 9,000 signatures in support of their cause — nearly double the number they say they need — paving the way for a possible recall election.
The city clerk and then the Orange County Registrar of Voters will review those signatures before a possible recall can move forward. Proponents need just over 5,100 signatures from registered voters to initiate a recall election.
Rubalcava was elected in November 2022 to a four-year term representing District 3 in central Anaheim. The recall is backed by Unite Here Local 11, which created Measure A, the hotel and event center worker minimum wage proposal that voters rejected in October.
The union, in a prepared statement, pointed to details revealed in an independent investigation of alleged corruption at city hall as the reason to recall Rubalcava. That report, in part, criticized Rubalcava for directing a city staffer to work with the Orange County Business Council, for which she previously worked, an action that investigators said would be a violation of the city’s charter.
“Our members are fighting to clean up Anaheim’s politics, and councilmember Rubalcava is connected to a corrupt cabal and has been criticized by the City’s corruption investigators. The recall process exists to remedy this exact kind of situation,” said Kurt Petersen, a co-president of Unite Here Local 11.
Rubalcava also drew the union’s ire last year when she opposed Measure A, which would have set the minimum wage for hotel and event center workers in the city to $25 an hour.
Rubalcava called the recall effort “an unnecessary distraction and a waste of time and public money.”
“Too often, recalls are used as political weapons to override the will of voters and take away their voice, and that is what is happening here,” she said in a prepared statement. “Recalls should be reserved for severe…
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