Recall Update

The signature drive to recall Councilman Lance MacLean is nearing completion. The weekly report from proponents hasn’t changed from last week. They say they’ll continue to get signatures while verifying those collected since the effort’s March 18 beginning. They need approximately 9,300 valid ones by Aug. 25.

Will MacLean engage his Newport Beach political consultant to help him fight off the recall? Thus far, MacLean has focused on harassing volunteers at storefronts and using air time during council meetings to campaign for himself. He’s lately improved his demeanor at meetings, changing from combative to polite.

MacLean’s consultant in his 2002 and 2006 campaigns is the same one who managed the failed effort of Richard Atkinson. Atkinson ran for a council seat in November 2008 and lost after outspending nearly all other candidates. His campaign focused on slick mailers and slate brochures in which he presented himself as a Republican-Democrat-Independent. He also appeared on a Vietnamese slate, just in case his ancestry might be mistaken as Vietnamese.

The only MacLean sighting during the past week occurred on July 4 when members of Saddleback Republican Assembly arrived to set up a table outside the city’s Street Faire. SRA members unloaded signs and other materials near the Faire and left briefly to find a parking place. While two of them drove away, two others observed MacLean go over to the stack of materials and rifle through them.

With signature gathering nearing an end, MacLean’s handful of supporters may have thrown in the towel. After trying unsuccessfully for three months to derail the recall, they’ve had no effect. Volunteers continue to exhibit energy and tenacity while MacLean has predicted to news reporters that he expects to be recalled.