Joe Brizzolara
A campaign to recall Downey City Councilmember Catherine Alvarez submitted 4,016 signatures last Tuesday, surpassing the 3,454 required signatures needed to place the recall on the ballot, according to City Clerk Alicia Duarte.
The Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk will now have 30 business days to verify that the signatures are valid. If the signature threshold is met, the City Clerk must certify the results to the City Council at its next regular meeting, Duarte explained to Downey Latino News in an email.
The City Council then has two weeks to issue an order for a recall election after which a special election must be held within 88 to 125 days. At the latest, the election would be held in July.
Recall organizers are jubilant at the prospect of removing Alvarez who they have hammered for two misdemeanor convictions related to welfare fraud from 2014 and a misdemeanor petty theft conviction in 2013.
Felony charges against Alvarez in relation to the welfare fraud case were reduced to a misdemeanor following a guilty plea.
Despite that, recall organizers listed a “felony welfare fraud charge” (emphasis added by authors) as grounds for the recall on the petition.
“She lied to the residents of District Three,” said former Downey Mayor Mario Guerra, urging residents to sign the recall petition, in a November video posted on the recall campaign’s Facebook page. “(If a recall election occurs) at least you will be an informed voter, knowing about her criminal past.”
Alvarez has shot back, saying the recall is an attempt to overturn the will of voters who elected her to represent City Council District Three in 2020.
“The political machine that I defeated is unwilling to respect the voters’ wishes,” Alvarez said in a statement. “These dirty tactics are going to cost Downey taxpayers several thousands of dollars.”
Downey Latino asked Duarte how much the verification process will cost the city, which will in turn pay the county for their assistance, but an estimate was not provided as of press time.
Last May, City Attorney Yvette Abich Garcia announced that Alvarez was able to continue to hold office despite her criminal record following an investigation by an outside law firm hired by the city to investigate the matter.
That law firm found that Alvarez’s office was not a violation of California Election Code Section 20 which bars convicted felons from holding office.
Alvarez has spoken publicly about the petty theft incident, claiming that she stole school supplies worth $20 for her two sons.
She was arrested, booked and was sentenced to one day in jail (time served), summary probation, community service, fines totaling $904, and is permanently banned from the Michaels crafts store at Downey Landing.
Alvarez’s welfare fraud convictions resulted in three years’ probation, community service, a fine, and $3,270 paid in restitution to Calworks and for food stamps.
“There’s no excuse for stealing. This is shameful, and she should have disclosed this to the residents of District 3,” said recall organizer and real estate agent Dorothy Pemberton after serving Alvarez a notice of intent to recall at a City Council meeting last July.
“She didn’t because she knew they would not elect her. Having warrants for her arrest shows lack of responsibility also. She’s a complete fraud and we deserve better.”
In September 2014, a judge issued a bench warrant after Alvarez missed a court appearance resulting from failure to complete community service and pay her fine. She was back in court the next month and her probation was reinstated.
“I represent working class families. I think all working-class families go through something. It could be a ticket; it could be stealing something from the store just because they couldn’t afford it. I don’t think they should criminalize my poverty” said Alvarez in a phone interview. “I paid all the money (back), I paid my dues.”
Alvarez says that along with the stolen merchandise, she made a $30 purchase from Michaels and was about to be evicted at the time of the incident. She also says she was released from the hospital for surgery two days earlier.
“She ran for office on a very popular platform, she won, and because some people don’t like what she stands for, they’re using the fact that she shoplifted against her,” says community activist and recall opponent Alex Contreras. “The fact that she was doing it for her children speaks to what’s going on. Families don’t have resources that they need to provide for their kids.”
Alvarez has angered conservative elements in the city for her support of policies like a rent stabilization ordinance, increased hourly wage for service workers during the pandemic last year, and supporting a city-sponsored LGBTQ Pride picnic.
Contreras sees this recall attempt as another right-wing effort to overturn the election of an opponent, similar to last year’s unsuccessful attempt at recalling Gov. Gavin Newsom.
Guerra, a long-time Downey Republican, and state party Executive Committee Member, was pictured submitting petition signatures to the City Clerk’s office on Tuesday.
Also listed as grounds for recall on the petition was Alvarez’s attendance at an unpermitted event at Apollo Park last April which did not comply with Centers for Disease Control guidelines.
Alvarez says that attendants, numbering in the hundreds, were tested for COVID-19 prior to the event and that it was an indigenous religious ceremony.
The U.S. Supreme Court has repeatedly upheld religious gatherings as protected speech, exempt from strict attendance restrictions amid the pandemic.
Repeated phone calls and an email by Downey Latino News seeking comment from recall organizers were not returned as of press time.
While recall organizers are confident they have enough signatures for a recall vote, they may not meet the threshold once the verification process concludes.
Ian Patton, a political consultant based in Long Beach and a former recall organizer himself, doesn’t think they’ve provided themself enough cushion.
“You want to have as big a buffer as possible because you just don’t know how many bad signatures you’re going to get,” says Patton. Duplicate signatures and signatures from those registered outside of the district are two examples of bad signatures.
“In an ideal world you’d want to have 50% more signatures (than needed),” says Patton. “At least a 25% buffer to be pretty safe.”
Recall organizers in Downey have a roughly 16% buffer between raw signatures submitted and total verified signatures required for a recall election. The signature threshold—3,454—is equal to 20% of registered voters in District Three, in accordance with California law.
If a recall election occurs and Alvarez is unable to secure above 50% of the vote, a second election will take place to fill her seat. Duarte believes, if successful, this will be the first recall election in Downey history.
