Many citizens in Rosemead, California want to get rid of their Mayor, who has been a cheerleader for a Wal-Mart supercenter. Citizens have already removed two pro-Wal-Mart elected officials from office, but when they gathered signatures to recall the Mayor and another city councilor, the Mayor sued the city, and a judge ruled that the recall petitions were not valid, because they had to be printed in several languages. But it seems there will be little respite for the embattled Mayor, as the group Save Our Community is going back out to gather signatures, and if necessary, to remove the Mayor in four different languages. Here’s a report from the frontlines of this anti-Wal-Mart recall effort: “The Mayor of Rosemead filed a lawsuit on December 27th against the Rosemead City Council and the City Clerk to stop the recall election to remove him, and one other city councilmember. Both councilmen are staunch Wal-Mart proponents. The Mayor’s lawsuit was predicated on a court decision handed down in November, 2005 stating that the recall petitions should have been in multiple languages. Although the city clerk and the county certified our recall petitions, the Mayor sued the city. On January 17, 2006, a preliminary injunction was handed down by the court to stop the February 7, 2006 recall election. On January 18, 2006, Save Our Community, opponents of the Wal-Mart super center, decided to get the petitions translated into 4 languages and will again “hit the streets” to gather the 3,500 required signatures to put the recall election back on track.”
Its same in any language: The Mayor of Rosemead Must Go. For selling out the homeowners, for selling out the neighborhood, for not representing his constituents. The Mayor dodged the bullet with his “many languages” loophole, but he will still face his day of accountability to the voters who have the power to remove him from office. If it takes 4 languages to do it, let the translation begin!
