The recall efforts by a group of downtown residents seeking to oust Second District Councilwoman Jeannine Pearce moved forward Tuesday night as opponents used the public comment portion of the Long Beach City Council meeting to serve official notice that they will pursue a recall petition in advance of a possible vote.
Second District resident Jonathan Crouch, one of the founding members of the group aiming to recall Pearce, spoke to the council as roughly a dozen supporters stood behind him with signs calling for Pearce’s recall. Crouch poured over the details that have been made public since the June 3 incident that resulted in Pearce’s former chief of staff being arrested and Pearce being investigated by the district attorney’s office for possible domestic violence.
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“Due to the severity of the council member Pearce’s conduct it had been my hope and the hope of many others that she would do what is best for the district and resign,” Crouch said. “It is obvious that she will not. That putting her constituents before herself has never been under consideration.”
The group formed shortly after Pearce and former chief of staff Devin Cotter’s relationship was made public in early June after the two were detained by California Highway Patrol officers on suspicion of drunk driving and domestic violence. Pearce was allowed to be driven home after submitting to a field sobriety test and Cotter was later arrested near Pearce’s home and booked on charges of being drunk in public and for a prior outstanding warrant from a previous driving under the influence conviction.
An investigation by the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office eventually found Pearce to have been acting in self defense on the night of the incident and found that the breathalyzer used on Pearce that night—she blew a .06 hours after initially pulling to the side of the road according to police reports—was invalid due to the device having previously recorded inaccurate tests and it not being correctly calibrated.
While the DA found Pearce no evidence to prosecute her on those charges, a separate investigation that is looking into whether conflicts of interests arose during their relationship is still underway by the DA’s public integrity division.
Pearce was not present for Crouch’s comments so Crouch said the group intends to formally serve her with the recall notice by mail. Once Pearce is officially notified, the group has seven days to file the notice with the county elections official and will have 120 days to circulate its petition once the county approves the language and format of the petition.
Based on the number of registered voters in the Second District—there are 31,505 registered voters as of November 1, according to the city’s website—the recall group will need about 6,300 signatures as the county’s recall procedures require a 20 percent threshold before a vote can possibly take place.
In a Facebook post, Pearce addressed the group, saying they slandered her and asked why her council colleagues remained silent after Crouch’s comments. She said she’s convinced that the recall effort is more about “gender, class and power” and showed no indication that she intends to step down anytime soon. She told the Post that she’s focused on her duties as a council member and being a responsive representative that her constituents deserve.
“I went through a difficult time in my personal life earlier this year, and some of my political rivals have decided to use that as the basis of a recall campaign,” Pearce said. I’m confident that voters in my district will reject the embellished and exaggerated claims that are made in this recall petition.”
Editors note: The original story has been updated to include a quote from Councilwoman Pearce.