Anaheim residents in the city’s District 3 will decide if Councilmember Natalie Rubalcava should be recalled from office with election day coming on June 4.
Ballots have been mailed out for the election, where a labor union is leading the effort to oust her from office. Only residents living in the central Anaheim District 3, which includes the downtown area, can cast a ballot. Enough signatures were collected to force the public vote on the question of recall.
In its argument for the recall, Unite Here Local 11, a labor union representing service workers in Southern California, pointed to an alleged violation of the city charter detailed in a city-commissioned investigative report and said Rubalcava represents businesses interests over the public.
“We are fed up with Anaheim’s broken politics,” Martín Lopez, recording secretary for Unite Here Local 11, said in a prepared statement. “The city’s official investigation alleged that Rubalcava ‘directly violated’ the city charter. Meanwhile, housing costs keep rising and wages for many workers remain too low. But what has Councilmember Rubalcava done about those issues? The people of Anaheim deserve better.”
Rubalcava is fighting the recall and is asking residents to vote no. She points to her work to hire more firefighters, push the council’s efforts to reform City Hall via recommendations from that investigative report, and to get information to her constituency on a range of issues such as tree trimming and street repaving as part of her success so far.
“I feel like in the last year we’ve made a lot of progress,” Rubalcava said.
Rubalcava’s campaign argues the union’s leadership dislikes her because she didn’t support a $25-an-hour hotel and event center worker minimum wage proposal last year, which voters rejected almost two-to-one.
The city-commissioned investigation report released last July alleged Rubalcava violated the city charter when she attempted to direct a city employee and his department to work with the Orange County Business Council, her former employer. The council made no move following the report’s release to censure or discipline Rubalcava.
Rubalcava has denied violating the city charter and the report’s characterization of what happened.
“It’s something that’s not true. I did not direct staff to do anything,” Rubalcava said. “I actually work very well with the person that they alleged that happened with. It was a miscommunication and it’s disappointing that it happened that way.”
Rubalcava has received endorsements from the city’s police, fire and municipal workers unions along with local representatives throughout Orange County.
Ballots may be returned by mail up until election day on June 4. Two voting centers will open on May 25 and through close of polls on June 4: one at the Downtown Anaheim Youth Center and the other at the Orange County Registrar of Voters office in Santa Ana.
Voters can drop off their ballots in drop boxes at Sage Park, St. Boniface Catholic Church and the Registrar’s office until 8 p.m. on June 4.
The city estimates the recall will cost it $700,000.
Rubalcava is serving a four-year term after being elected in the November 2022 election with 58 percent of the vote. If recalled, the City Council would appoint someone to fill the open seat; if they couldn’t reach an agreement it would prompt an election.
Related Articles
Should Orange County’s Board of Education increase its size? State legislators take up the issue
Huntington Beach Councilmember Tony Strickland is running for state Senate
Huntington Beach councilmembers pledge to fight state’s lawsuit over city’s voter ID measure
California sues Huntington Beach over voter ID measure
Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco could run for governor in 2026
Leave a Reply