RECALL: ERUSD President Jose Lara and Board Member Leanne Ibarra Subjects of Recall Effort

Jose Lara and Leanne Ibarra were served recall papers last night.

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BY BRIAN HEWS

Residents of Pico Rivera have evidently had enough serving El Rancho Board President Jose Laura and his crony Leeanne Ibarra recall papers at last night’s board meeting.

The group is also targeting the third cog in the wheel, Board Vice President Gabriel Orosco, in the 2020 elections.

It is a first step in a lengthy recall process of the two embattled elected officials.

The petitions require that the proponents write a statement, not over two hundred words in length, outlining the reasons for the recall.

The proponents must also gather no less than 20 signatures on each of the petitions that must be verified by the ERUSD Clerk in order to move forward.

A copy of the notice must be served by personal delivery or by certified mail on Lara and Ibarra.

In addition, the original notice must be filed with the Clerk within seven days of service and subsequently published at least once in a newspaper of general circulation and filed with the Clerk.

The next step in the process requires the proponents to prepare the recall petition for circulation which once again must be approved by the Clerk.

After approval, the proponents must collect enough signatures to qualify for a recall election, with the number of signatures based on a percentage of the registered voters in the ERUSD.

A local consultant indicates that 6,400 signatures will be needed to qualify for the recall election.

The ballots will have entires asking if Lara and Ibarra “should be recalled” with a yes or no check box; below that choice will be candidates who will be running to replace Lara and Ibarra.

The proponents indicated they will strive for 10% additional “to be safe.”