Read 'em and Weep: Recall Signatures Trump 3 of a Kind

The tears caught Leah Basile by surprise. When the Portola Hills resident learned Wednesday night that there were enough signatures submitted by her team of volunteers to recall three sitting Lake Forest City Councilmen, her emotions finally poured out.

For the first time in city history, a recall effort was successfully submitted to the city clerk, who will send more than 24,000 signatures to the county registrar of voters seeking the recall of Mayor Andrew Hamilton, Mayor Pro Tem Scott Voigts and Councilman Dwight Robinson.

For the recall to end up on a ballot – probably in September – there need to be 7,882 verified signatures per councilman after counting those who signed for the recall and subtracting those who rescinded their signatures. The latter number is unknown, but City Clerk Stephanie Smith said the clock stopped on the gathering process at 5:21 p.m., when Basile delivered the boxes of recall sheets.

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When the number crunching was done at City Hall about 9:30 by Smith and her team, there were 8,245 who signed for Hamilton’s ouster, 8,183 for Voigts and 8,238 for Robinson.

“I’ve put on hold my expectations because I didn’t know what was going to happen,” Basile said of her tears. “The second we added up the numbers of the third guy (Hamilton), and we got it, I couldn’t help myself. It was a wonderful moment.”

Smith said the registrar of voters has until June 2 to verify the results; the council will receive the results at its June 7 meeting and will have two weeks to call the election. The election will be 88 to 125 days after.

Robinson, whose term expires this year, was the only one of the three who received more votes in his election year than signatures endorsing his recall. He received 9,381 votes in 2012.

However, in the 2014 election, Voigts received 6,706 votes and Hamilton 6,068; that represents a 1,477 difference for Voigts, 2,177 for Hamilton.

“It shows that there are more people that want these guys out than voted them into office -- that’s a big deal,” Basile said. “The people have spoken.

“I’m so grateful. If it hadn’t been for all the volunteers and the people that really wanted this to happen, it wouldn’t have happened. It just goes to show you, when we’re all together for an important cause, things like this happen. We can make history. We can change history just by working together.”

It was an uphill battle, to be sure. The city clerk verified the original group of signatures to begin the recall process on Dec. 20, 2015, but with the holidays, the recall effort didn’t begin in earnest until after the new year. They had four months to get signatures of 20 percent of the city’s registered voters, but started with a two-week disadvantage.

There were instances in which law enforcement or city personnel prevented them from collecting signatures in particular locations, and over Easter weekend a signature gatherer was allegedly attacked by a Voigts supporter, which ended that day’s collection effort.

Additionally, the councilmen were aggressive in trying to discredit them, distributing door-hangers, mailers and email and text blasts demeaning Councilman Adam Nick and blaming him for a power grab in an ugly smear campaign orchestrated by a political consultant who lobbied for an El Toro International Airport; implying signature gatherers were pedophiles and thugs; informing residents about ways to rescind their signature; and getting an endorsement from county GOP Chairman Fred Whitaker – whose law firm coincidentally got $60,000 in business from Lake Forest after a vote from Robinson and/or Voigts in a closed session a couple years ago.

Meanwhile, the recall effort focused on voting records and broken promises. Basile was spurred to begin the recall when Nick and Jim Gardner couldn’t get a third councilman to consent to put the dangerous Saddleback Ranch Road on the agenda. However, after getting served with the notice to recall, the councilmen acted swiftly to address the situation in Portola Hills.

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Dismissing residents’ concerns was one of several points that hammered away at the integrity of the so-called Gang of 3’s voting record. Recall supporters cited several areas of concern: Corruption, cronyism, collusion, conduct unbecoming, conservatism denied, and being compassionless.

Their decision last year to continue to do business with embattled Orange County Animal Care was another major fighting point. However, there appeared to be some wiggle room when they agreed to consider an alternative proposed by Gardner, who got help on the Request for Proposal from Voigts. It was presented to the council Tuesday night, but Voigts, Hamilton and Robinson still agreed to send about $600,000 to OCAC for a proposed new facility in Tustin and about $600,000 more for annual service as part of a 10-year agreement. Gardner called it a blank check because those totals could go up depending on how many cities ultimately sign on with the county shelter, but Lake Forest and San Juan Capistrano are the only ones in south Orange County to do so.

So on the eve of the recall deadline, Hamilton, Voigts and Robinson – despite overwhelming public comment in favor of an alternative – voted against the will of the people.

Less than 24 hours later, the will of the people answered back.

About the author: Martin Henderson won several Los Angeles and Orange County press club awards while an editor at Patch in 2012-13.

Photo: Leah Basile gets a hug from Jennifer Havill after learning there were potentially enough signatures to force a special election to recall councilmen Andew Hamilton, Scott Voigts and Dwight Robinson. Photo/Martin Henderson

Photo: City staff members (left to right) Hannah Shin-Heydon, Jennifer Connelly and Stephanie Smith count signatures while Tracey Tingley (sitting) and Leah Basile watch. Photo/Martin Henderson