Recall Elections

Three years ago, Madison Nguyen became the fresh new face of Vietnamese American politics, an upward-bound city politician in San Jose. She was splashed on magazine covers; the chosen one who seemingly held the hopes of the city's emerging Vietnamese community. Now she is in a fight for her political career, targeted by Vietnamese Americans who believe she has betrayed them. Voters will decide on Tuesday whether to unseat the 34-year-old councilwoman.

Critics of the Capistrano Unified school board said Tuesday that they had collected enough signatures to put a measure on the ballot to oust two trustees. More than 62,000 signatures are on petitions to recall Marlene Draper and Sheila Benecke. The committee needs to submit about 41,000 signatures -- just over 20,000 per trustee -- to the Orange County registrar of voters by Tuesday to hold a recall election. It's the second recall attempt against them since 2005.

This is the time of year when the northern San Joaquin Valley is actually bucolic. Temperatures are bearable. The hills are green and the orchards are in full bloom -- almonds gussied in white, peaches in pink. Too bad that this spring there's also a foul odor of Sacramento political pollution. In a nutshell, the local state senator -- Republican Jeff Denham of Merced -- didn't vote for the state budget last summer.

Southern Orange County is suburbia defined, filled with rows of spacious homes, acres of manicured lawns, high-performing schools and every chain store imaginable. It's also the unlikely breeding ground for a parental revolt that has bitterly divided the community -- and claimed several victories, most notably the felony indictment of a former schools superintendent for creating "enemies lists."

President Evo Morales appeared to have won a sweeping victory Sunday in a nationwide recall election that the leftist chief of state crafted as a means of consolidating support against fierce conservative opposition. Partial unofficial results based on quick counts at polling places indicated that between 56% and 63% of voters cast ballots in favor of Morales and Vice President Alvaro Garcia Linera, according to local television stations. Those totals easily exceeded the 46.

California's powerful prison guards union overwhelmingly reelected its president here Thursday after a contentious race that became a referendum on the group's decision this month to launch a recall campaign against Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. Though there had been some dissension among members about the recall, 447 union delegates who voted at the California Correctional Peace Officers Assn.

California Secretary of State Debra Bowen rejected on Tuesday a petition submitted by the state prison guards' union for a recall campaign against Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, saying it did not meet legal requirements. In a letter to Mike Jimenez, president of the California Correctional Peace Officers Assn., an aide to Bowen said the petition, submitted Sept. 29, failed to include the response Schwarzenegger filed nearly two weeks earlier to the union's intention to try to recall him.

Maywood voters will go to the polls today to decide whether to recall three of five City Council members and adopt an ordinance that would boost the qualifications for police chief and discourage nepotism in city hiring practices. Supporters of the recall drive and Measure M said their campaign stemmed from the council's decision in February to appoint Al Hutchings, who was convicted of theft and resigned from the Los Angeles Police Department, as the city's interim police chief.

An indictment unsealed Thursday accuses the former superintendent of one of Orange County's top school districts of using public funds to meddle in an election and create enemies lists. James A. Fleming was charged with felony counts of misappropriating public funds, using Capistrano Unified School District funds to influence an election and conspiracy to commit an act injurious to the public. A former assistant superintendent was also indicted. At a news conference Thursday, Dist. Atty.

Westside homeowners whose attempt last week to launch a recall campaign against Councilman Jack Weiss fell short served him notice again Wednesday. Weiss has 14 days to issue a written response. In all likelihood, that means that the recall committee can begin in late June trying to gather the nearly 23,000 signatures needed to force an election. The committee includes Mike Eveloff, Tract 7260 Homeowners Assn. president.