Recall Update

As of May 31, proponents of the MacLean recall have 86 days to complete the signature drive. The current count is between 7,000 and 8,000 signatures, and the deadline to gather 9,350 valid ones is Aug. 25.

A Mission Viejo resident who signed the petition at a storefront last week said, “Wow! You’re everywhere!” He referred to MacLean as a “time bomb” when he signed the petition in front of Ralphs on Santa Margarita Parkway. Among other locations, recall teams have gathered signatures in front of two Albertsons stores, three Ralphs stores, Pavilions, Trader Joe’s, Henry’s, CVS, coffee shops, schools, restaurants, meetings of all kinds, the library, a concert at the lake and Stater Bros. in Lake Forest.

Particularly vexing to MacLean supporters, the signature gatherers are courteous, friendly, well informed, respectful and law-abiding. MacLean’s supporters generally are rude, angry and argumentative. Initially, those opposing the recall asserted that the effort was driven by a “handful of gadflies” who attend council meetings. More than 50 people initiated the recall as proponents, and many more are actively involved in gathering signatures.

The most frequent comment from residents during the past week: “Why don’t you recall all of them?” (This is consistently the No. 1 question every week). Residents are lately having the strongest reaction to MacLean voting to double his council salary and trying to get lifetime healthcare benefits after three terms.

Blog readers often ask where the recall groups will be working. The blog hasn’t announced a schedule because it would increase the chances of MacLean’s supporters showing up to interfere with signature gathering.

Here’s an update from a petitioner on the recall battlefront: “We didn’t run into as many wacky MacLean supporters this week. We did see former city manager Dan Joseph at a storefront, and we had another Lance sighting at Trader Joe’s. I heard he got a job, so maybe he has better things to do than harass us. We’ve talked to parents involved in sports who know Lance as a coach or volunteer. They tell us about his bad temper and yelling at their kids. The feedback is nearly all negative.”