Democratic Club
by Mary Larson
LW contributor
California has officially certified the results of the gubernatorial recall election. The official figures show that Gov. Gavin Newsom won with the exact same margin as his victory in the 2018 election (61.9 percent to 38.1 percent). The vote in Leisure World was 2,250 against the recall and 1,970 in support.
Unfortunately, more recall elections are on the horizon. During the Los Alamitos Unified School District Board of Education meeting on Sept. 28, three of the five board members were served notices of intention to gather signatures for their recall.
The goal of the recall organizers appears to be to vote all five of the current board members out of office during the November 2022 election;,three by recall and the remaining two by running opposition candidates.
Los Alamitos School Board members represent five different districts covering Los Alamitos and Seal Beach, including Leisure World. Leisure World voters are geographically split among all except one of the five districts.
All three of the board members being threatened with recall represent parts of Leisure World. They are Megan Cutuli (District 5), Chris Forehan (District 2) and Scott Fayette (District 4). Cutuli is a long-term member of the board; Forehan and Fayette were elected in 2020.
Current Board Vice President Diana Hill’s District 2 also covers portions of Leisure World. She will be running for reelection in November 2022 as well as School Board Chair Marlys Davidson. However, her District 1 does not cover Leisure World.
People can Google a map to view the geographic areas covered by each of the school board districts. Biographical information about the board members is available at https://www.losal. org/board-of-education.
LW Democratic Club leaders have joined other concerned community members in an effort to help voters understand the implications of this proposed recall effort. They are recommending that voters do not sign recall petitions currently being circulated in the community. Organizers of the recall need 2,000 signatures from each district in order for the recalls to be added to the November 2022 ballot.
For more information about this new recall effort, people can go to the club’s website at https:// sblwdems.wordpress.com. Voters are also encouraged to do their own research concerning this situation.
••• The club will continue to hold its membership meetings via Zoom until further notice. Its annual meeting will be held on Wednesday, Nov. 17, during which 2022-2023 board members will be elected. Anyone who needs help with the login information can email lwsbdemocraticclub@gmail.com or call (562) 412-0898.
LW Democrats and supporters interested in more in-depth, up-to-date reporting on the issues are invited to subscribe to the club’s free electronic newsletter. Email democraticclubsblw@gmail.com or call editor Mary Larson at (562) 296-8521.
