Touting the issue of snarled Westside traffic, a small group of homeowners on Tuesday tried to serve Los Angeles City Councilman Jack Weiss with a notice they intend to recall him from office, alleging that he is too welcoming of development.
Although the recall campaign is still in its early stages -- and the city clerk is not sure Weiss was properly served -- the effort has the potential to be a bellwether of public attitudes about the building boom on the city's Westside and in neighboring Beverly Hills and Santa Monica. Critics are concerned that the development will worsen the area's notorious traffic congestion.
The move comes as Weiss, a former federal prosecutor, is ramping up his campaign for city attorney in 2009, with Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa serving as chairman. Although Weiss is so far unopposed in that race, the recall movement means he may be faced with running two campaigns -- one to keep his job, the other for his potential future job.
Weiss and his supporters see the recall effort in far narrower terms. In their view, it stems directly from a group of homeowners who last year tried to negotiate a $5-million mitigation fund that they would control from the developer of two residential towers in Century City. In exchange for the fund, the group would have agreed to drop their opposition to the project.
"What this recall is really about is money and greed and special interests who want to operate in the shadows without any public oversight," said Larry Levine, Weiss' political consultant. "These people are not anti-development. They will support any development as long as they get a cut of the action."
The homeowners delivered the notice to Weiss' City Hall office, but the city clerk was not sure that met legal requirements.
Recall movements in Los Angeles have a long history of fizzling. The last time a council member faced a recall election was in 1984, when Art Snyder retained his job, and the last time voters removed a council member from office was in 1946, according to the city clerk's office.
What distinguishes this effort is that Weiss, who won reelection in a landslide in 2005, is facing a group of affluent homeowners who are determined to make the recall a referendum on the emotional issue of Westside traffic.
