City council recall, Vernon, California (2021)

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2021 city council recall Vernon, Calif.
Recall status
Defeated (Davis & Ybarra) Approved (Gonzales & Menke)
Recall election date
September 14, 2021 (Davis & Ybarra) June 1, 2021 (Gonzales & Menke)
Table of contents
Recall vote Recall supporters Recall opponents Path to the ballot
See also
External links Footnotes

A election to recall City Council Members William Davis and Melissa Ybarra took place on September 14, 2021. According to the semi-official election results, voters retained both Davis and Ybarra. The filing deadline to run for Davis and Ybarra's seats passed on June 28, 2021.

In a separate effort, voters recalled City Council Members Diana Gonzales and Carol Menke on June 1, 2021. Voters elected Judith Merlo to replace Gonzales and Crystal Larios to replace Menke.

The organizers of the June recall said that Gonzales and Menke violated the public trust by supporting a solar and wind project led by an allegedly corrupt developer. Gonzales and Menke responded by saying that the real motivation for the recall was that they had challenged "an attempt to place Mayor Leticia Lopez’s family members in city-owned housing."

The organizers of the September recall alleged that Ybarra engaged in nepotism as housing commissioner and that Davis was unfit to serve on the council. Mayor Lopez suggested that the second recall was retaliation for Ybarra and Davis's role in supporting the prior recall.

William Davis recall

Yes/no recall question

Voters answered the question, "Shall William Davis be recalled (removed) from the office of City of Vernon Council Member?"

William Davis recall, 2021

William Davis won the Vernon City Council At-Large recall election on September 14, 2021.

			Recall  Vote	%	Votes
			Yes	20.3	15
		✔	No	79.7	59
			Total Votes		74

---

It has been certified. Source

Replacement question

Voters were asked to select a candidate to replace Davis, if the recall was successful.

General election

Special general election for Vernon City Council At-Large

No candidate won the special general election for Vernon City Council At-Large on September 14, 2021.

		Candidate	%	Votes
		Diana Gonzales (Nonpartisan)	100.0	18

---

Vote totals may be incomplete for this race.
	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 18
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Melissa Ybarra recall

Yes/no recall question

Voters answered the question, "Shall Melissa Ybarra be recalled (removed) from the office of City of Vernon Council Member?"

Melissa Ybarra recall, 2021

Melissa Ybarra won the Vernon City Council At-Large recall election on September 14, 2021.

			Recall  Vote	%	Votes
			Yes	25.3	19
		✔	No	74.7	56
			Total Votes		75

---

It has been certified. Source

Replacement question

Voters were asked to select a candidate to replace Ybarra, if the recall was successful.

General election

Special general election for Vernon City Council At-Large

No candidate won the special general election for Vernon City Council At-Large on September 14, 2021.

		Candidate	%	Votes
		Carol Menke (Nonpartisan)	100.0	20

---

Vote totals may be incomplete for this race.
	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 20
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Diana Gonzales recall

Yes/no recall question

Voters answered the question, "Shall Diana Gonzales be recalled (removed) from the office of City of Vernon Council Member?"

Diana Gonzales recall, 2021

Diana Gonzales lost the Vernon City Council At-Large recall election on June 1, 2021.

			Recall  Vote	%	Votes
		✖	Yes	69.1	56
			No	30.9	25
			Total Votes		81

---

It has been certified. Source

Replacement question

Voters were asked to select a candidate to replace Gonzales if the recall was successful.

General election

Special general election for Vernon City Council At-Large

Judith Merlo won election in the special general election for Vernon City Council At-Large on June 1, 2021.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Judith Merlo (Nonpartisan)	100.0	53

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 53
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Carol Menke recall

Yes/no recall question

Voters answered the question, "Shall Carol Menke be recalled (removed) from the office of City of Vernon Council Member?"

Carol Menke recall, 2021

Carol Menke lost the Vernon City Council At-Large recall election on June 1, 2021.

			Recall  Vote	%	Votes
		✖	Yes	72.8	59
			No	27.2	22
			Total Votes		81

---

It has been certified. Source

Replacement question

Voters were asked to select a candidate to replace Menke if the recall was successful.

General election

Special general election for Vernon City Council At-Large

Crystal Larios won election in the special general election for Vernon City Council At-Large on June 1, 2021.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Crystal Larios (Nonpartisan)	100.0	55

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 55
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Gonzales & Menke recall

Recall supporters

Vernon Mayor Leticia Lopez and Council Members Melissa Ybarra and Bill Davis supported the recall effort. The Vernon Chamber of Commerce also endorsed the effort.

Organizers said they launched the recall effort after Gonzales and Menke supported a solar and wind project led by allegedly corrupt developers. Some individuals associated with the developer, Silverado Co., were subjects of a corruption investigation by the Los Angeles District Attorney's Office for allegedly stealing $20 million from the City of Industry during a similar solar project. Gonzales and Menke voted to pursue the Vernon project in 2020, with the other three members of the five-member council voting against it. Menke said that at the time, while she knew about the conflict between the developers and the City of Industry, she did not know about the criminal investigation.

Steve Feed, Chairman of the Vernon Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors, explained his support for the recall.

"

Sadly, Gonzales and Menke have taken advantage of the public’s trust by using their elected positions to have the City of Vernon sign contracts with inexperienced solar developers. Gonzales and Menke knew of this failed and allegedly corrupt energy deal in the City of Industry as Industry has filed a lawsuit to recover over $20 million from this same group of individuals who were heavily lobbying for a shell contract.

”

Recall opponents

Gonzales and Menke responded by saying that the real motivation for the recall attempt was that they had challenged "an attempt to place Mayor Leticia Lopez’s family members in city-owned housing." Lopez denied the allegation and said that Gonzales and Menke incorrectly assumed she was related to people based on their sharing a common last name.

Gonzales also gave the following official statement:

"

I promised, that if I was elected, to do something about the City owned vacant land in Kern County which has sat useless and unproductive for years. The City owes 70+ million dollars on the property and pays interest only payments of 4-5 million dollars per year on a high interest rate loan which cannot be refinanced or prepaid. A developer presented a proposal for a public/private partnership to develop wind and solar on the property wherein the City would receive significant returns on their investment. The idea was presented to the City Administrator and City Council heard the general proposal. It was not approved. Sometime later, the City Administrator contacted the developer and arranged a tour of the property. The City Council was presented with the option to "enter into negotiations" with the developer. It was not approved. This recall was also launched because I properly challenged Mayor Lopez and the Housing Commission for featherbedding her personal and political interests, and establishing a housing monopoly by her family for City-owned housing. This recall is the attempt to silence me and cover-up her and her supporters corruption in Vernon.

”

Menke's official response appears below:

"

The grounds asserted for recall aren't true! I stand on my public record. I urge you to view the Council meetings on the City's website and see my record for yourself. On the City Council it's my job to be prepared and ask tough questions, and I do! I've found that Vernon isn't transparent or fiscally stable, its just learned to hide its transgressions. - During a global pandemic, instead of taking care of YOU, Councilmembers Ybarra, Davis, and Lopez, and their few supporters, launched a recall against reform-minded Councilmembers Gonzales and me. - Instead of holding fair elections, they launched a recall. - Desperate to preserve a rubber-stamp Council, they launched a recall. - When I exposed the Housing Commission on their deliberate lapse in notifying the lottery winner, and instead renting City housing to a preferred supporter of Councilmember Lopez, they launched a recall. As a Housing Commissioner, I discovered that every member of Councilmember Lopez's family was submitting lottery applications to obtain advantage in the lottery. We stopped this unfair practice, but not before her family and friends moved into at least 7 properties, adding a minimum 12 of her supporters to the voting rolls. Good governance? Judge for yourself.

”

Path to the ballot

See also: Laws governing recall in California

For a recall to qualify for the ballot in Vernon, petitions must be signed by more than 30% of registered voters in the city. Organizers submitted the required number of signatures, and the election was scheduled at the Vernon City Council meeting on March 2, 2021.

Davis & Ybarra recall

Recall supporters

Gonzales and Menke came out in support of the recall effort against Ybarra and Davis. According to the Los Angeles Daily News, the recall petition alleged that Ybarra engaged in nepotism as housing commissioner and that Davis "lacked the mental competence" required for the city council position.

Recall opponents

Mayor Lopez said that the second recall attempt was retaliation for Ybarra and Davis's support for Gonzales and Menke's recall. She also said that the suggestion that Davis was unfit to serve on the council was ageist.

Ybarra responded to the recall effort against her, saying, "Sadly, Diana Gonzales and Carol Menke have resorted to orchestrating a campaign against me, because I chose to support transparency and clean government and rejected their attempt to bring corruption to our beloved Vernon."

Path to the ballot

See also: Laws governing recall in California

For a recall to qualify for the ballot in Vernon, petitions must be signed by more than 30% of registered voters in the city. The recall election was scheduled for September 14, 2021, after organizers met the signature requirement.

See also

• Recall campaigns in California
• Political recall efforts, 2021
• City council recalls

External links

• Search Google News for this topic
• City of Vernon, California
• Vernon City Council