Long Beach Second District Councilwoman Jeannine Pearce last week responded to a recall notice served to her earlier this month by a group of downtown residents seeking to oust her from office.
The letter was due to the City Clerk Department by December 19—one week after the group’s filing of the Notice of Intention. She was also mandated to serve a copy of her answer to one of the proponents named in the notice.
The letter reads, in its entirety:
“Your Councilmember, Jeannine Pearce is a longtime community leader who was elected to represent all of us last year.
Now, a few of the people who supported Jeannine’s opponent and outside special interests are using a difficult and personal situation as their basis to recall her. The claims made in their petition are exaggerated or outright lies.
Here are the facts you need to know about the misleading recall:
-Jeannine never broke any laws, was not charged with any crimes, and did not request special treatment.
-The recall will not help parking, homelessness, economic development or other neighborhood issues.
‘As your Councilmember, I work hard every day to serve as the effective and transparent advocate that we deserve at City Hall. In my short time in office, I have built a historic dog park, added over 150 new parking spots, added bike lanes, approved responsible developments, doubled constituent services, and been an advocate for every resident in our district. I will continue to focus on your priorities. Please decline to sign this misleading recall petition.’
Your Neighbor,
Jeannine
Questions? Call (562) 281-5613 or visit www.JeanninePearce.com
333 West Ocean Boulevard
Long Beach, CA 90802”
In a memo to the mayor and city council, dated December 14, City Clerk Monique De La Garza states that in order for the petition to qualify it must have the signatures of 20 percent of 31,505 registered voters. Within 30 days of the petition filing, the city clerk will examine the petition to make sure it contains a minimum of 6,301 valid signatures.
According to De La Garza, if the recall petition is then found to be sufficient, within 14 days of receiving the certificate of sufficiency from the City Clerk, the City Council must then issue an order stating that an election will be held to determine whether or not the officer named in the petition shall be recalled.
The estimated cost of a recall election is $110,000, De La Garza told the Post, adding that this cost is consistent with the amount charged for the District 2 run off election in June of 2016 in a coordinated effort with the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk.
“If the recall election is successful, a second election would be needed to fill the vacancy and that is estimated at $273,000,” De La Garza said in an email. “This estimate is based on the last Special Election held in 2015 to fill the Fourth Council District seat.”
Editor’s note: This story has been updated with additions and clarification from the City Clerk’s office.