Democratic Club
by Mary Larson
LW contributor
Chris Forehan, member of the Los Alamitos Unified School District Board of Trustees, will be the speaker at the Democratic Club’s membership meeting on Dec. 15. All LW Democrats are invited to participate. To receive login information, email lwsbdemocraticclub@ gmail.com or call (562) 412-0898.
Forehan is one of the three trustees whom opponents are attempting to recall. The club opposes the recall effort and believes the time and energy should be spent elsewhere. Instead, efforts should be focused on working together to build back from the damage created due to COVID-19.
Additionally, the school district will have to pay for the cost of this proposed recall, which is estimated to be up to $192,948, plus about $3.40 per signature for verification.
In an attempt to qualify this recall effort for a ballot measure in 2022, petitions will be circulating soon in Leisure World. The club urges voters not to sign the petition.
As of press time, the petitions to recall have not yet been approved by the Orange County Registrar of Voters. Organizers filed the second draft of the petitions on Nov. 4. The Registrar’s office had 10 days to review them.
Once the petitions are certified, recall supporters will have 90 days to collect the roughly 6,000 signatures from registered voters needed to qualify for the ballot. That’s roughly 2,000 signatures from each of the targeted trustee areas, all of which include portions of Leisure World (Districts 2, 4 and 5).
Anyone interested in more information about the process should Google “Procedures of recalling local officials.” More information about this recall effort can be found on the club’s website at https://sblwdems. wordpress.com under the resources tab. Voters are also encouraged to do their own research.
The Democratic Club will continue to address this issue whether or not recall supporters are able get enough signatures to force a vote in 2022.
••• Democratic Club leaders are also closely monitoring the Orange County Board of Supervisors’ efforts to redraw the shape of the districts. The dispute appears to be over which proposal dilutes minority voters.
None of the supervisors has yet to indicate publicly which proposal he or she prefers. However, they were scheduled to informally adopt a plan during the Nov. 16 meeting. Formal adoption will take place at a special meeting on Monday, Nov. 22, at 1 p.m. The meeting is open to the public online or by phone at (866) 590-5055, access code 4138489.
••• LW Democrats and supporters who are interested in receiving in-depth and up-todate reporting on the issues can subscribe to the club’s free electronic newsletter by emailing democraticclubsblw@gmail.com
or calling editor Mary Larson at (562) 296-8521.
