The Recall Process
Recalling TVUSD school board trustees Komrosky, Wiersma, and Gonzalez is a long and expensive process. Here are the details.
A local group, One Temecula Valley PAC (1TVPAC), has started the recall process for three school board trustees elected in November 2022, stating that since they took office in December, Komrosky, Wiersma, and Gonzalez have “done nothing but create chaos and discord within the school district and within our community.”
The recall group’s website says the key issues requiring recall are “fiscal irresponsibility,” “professional disrespect,” and the creation of a “dysfunctional environment within TVUSD.”
We’ll give you our opinion about the recall in our next post, but first let’s take a look at the recall process itself.
How do you recall a local elected official?
Our community is in the middle of the recall process now. Here are the basic steps:
Step 1: The Notice of Intention officially started the process. It states the reasons for recall, must be signed by several local voters, and is served on the official you want to recall. The three trustees were served during public comments at the School Board meeting on June 13, 2023.
Step 2: Recall Petition. The recall petition must be signed by 20% of the registered voters in the trustee’s geographic area. The petition does not directly recall the official, but simply gets the recall item on the ballot so voters can decide. This is the step we’re currently in.
Step 3: Public examination and review by the county election official. The County of Riverside verifies that all recall petition signers are registered to vote in the correct area and certifies that the required number of signatures have been collected.
Step 4: Notice of recall election. Within 14 days of county certification, the governing board must issue an order for a recall election. If they don’t, the county official does.
Step 5: Recall election. The recall election must occur within a specific amount of time. If the majority of voters vote yes, the official is recalled. The election determines only whether a trustee should be recalled; it does not elect a replacement trustee.
Step 6: New trustee. The remaining board members appoint someone to fill out the term of the recalled trustee, or another election is held to replace them.
Recall is a serious matter
As you can see, recalling a local elected official is not easy. It takes a lot of time and effort. Is recall worth it? Our next post explores that question.