Once again Yorba Linda hears serious talk of a recall, although no past efforts have succeeded

Serious talk of recalling locally elected officials often roils Yorba Linda's political landscape, but mounting a successful recall is difficult, partly due to challenges in precisely navigating the state's detailed rules to qualify a recall for the ballot and the costs involved.

In fact, no city council member, school trustee or water board director serving this community has ever been removed from office in a recall, and only one of multiple recall efforts has ever reached the ballot – the 2014 attempt to replace councilmen Tom Lindsey and Craig Young.

However, a recall targeting Yorba Linda Water District directors might be on the horizon, guided by Yorba Linda Taxpayers Association leaders, including some who were active in that first-ever recall election.

Before co-founding the taxpayers group, Jeff Decker ran to replace Lindsey in the recall attempt, but Lindsey retained his seat by a comfortable 18-point margin. Co-founder Jon Hansen had opposed the recall.

In a statement issued after a recent “town hall” meeting that drew some 170 residents, the taxpayers group said, “The audience support to proceed with both a writ of mandate and a recall of board members was overwhelming.”

A writ of mandate, the group noted, “is a court order to a government agency to follow the law” and “is necessary” because directors “refused to comply” with a statutory obligation to rescind a rate increase or place the issue on a ballot, upon receiving a referendum petition.

The petition contained 5,520 signatures. The county Registrar of Voters checked a sample of 500, found 444 to be valid and extrapolated 88.8 percent or 4,902 would be valid, surpassing the 2,157 needed.

But the petition was turned away by directors in a 5-0 vote after hearing a report from district General Manager Marc Marcantonio and longtime legal counsel Art Kidman.

They recommended rejection because “the referendum process isn't allowed by the laws applicable to the rate (increase) resolution,” and only an initiative petition – not a referendum process – would be lawful, a stance vigorously disputed by the taxpayers group.

With an expensive lawsuit and possible recall effort afoot, the taxpayers association is raising funds, asking donors to state if a contribution is a loan and promising to “pay you back in full,” should “the court order our legal fees be reimbursed by the water district.”

A key cost is printing petitions, which must follow strict state format requirements, including type size, margins, signature and address spacing and other details, with noncomplying forms rejected.

A recall effort would require separate petitions for each director targeted, signed by at least 20 percent of the district's nearly 48,000 registered voters in a 120-day period. Slated for the November 2016 ballot are seats held by Mike Beverage and Ric Collett. Terms for Phil Hawkins, Bob Kiley and Gary Melton run through 2018.