Recall Update: MacLean Loses It

As of June 21, proponents recalling Councilman Lance MacLean have 65 days to complete the signature drive. They continue to anticipate having the required number, approximately 9,350 valid signatures, and a margin of safety well before the Aug. 25 deadline.

Last week, MacLean clashed three times in three days with signature gatherers. In the first two encounters, he initially pretended to be an uninformed third party, asking the petitioners about grounds for the recall. But the third encounter ended differently. It may have been the sight of many petitioners working in many locations, but MacLean lost it.

Two people witnessed the third incident on June 17 in front of a store on Marguerite Parkway. One of the witnesses said, “I don’t know if MacLean spoke to the petitioner or if her presence alone set him off. I saw him leave the storefront, and he was either so angry or upset he was shaking. He got into his car and peeled through a parking lot that was crowded with shoppers walking between the store and their cars. He has no control over his anger.”

Storefronts near city hall have become a recall battleground, primarily because city officials have abused their power. Three store managers have been pressured by Council Members MacLean and/or Trish Kelley, who attempted to deny petitioners their First Amendment rights. On March 27, City Manager Dennis Wilberg interrupted a conversation between a petitioner and a voter at a storefront. Wilberg later said he was “setting the record straight.” Wilberg has an opportunity at every council meeting to speak into his microphone when he wants to address the public. It is not his job to do interventions on the street or eavesdrop on private conversations. Wilberg lives in Lake Forest, and he is ineligible to sign the petition or vote in the recall. As a city employee, he is legally barred from involvement.

Top city employees are on high alert that MacLean – their third rubberstamp vote comprising the council majority – will be removed from office. Without his vote, city hall’s taxpayer-funded parties could abruptly end.