Murrieta May Recall 3 of Its Own

Less than 15 years after incorporating, Murrieta could have its first recall May 3: Three city councilmen are targeted by homeowners who accuse them of allowing developers to pave over the charm of their town.

The political squabble was triggered by Murrieta’s explosive growth.

The city’s population has nearly quadrupled to 78,000 since 1990, mushrooming around the junction of interstates 15 and 215 in southwest Riverside County, and turning the town into a haven for commuters trekking to San Diego, Orange and Los Angeles counties.

The recall petitioners launched the recall effort last summer after the council approved a zoning change allowing a shopping center in a residential neighborhood and after they learned that the mayor had lobbied city planners to approve his daughter’s day-care center. They said they were fed up with the growing traffic and had become increasingly disparaging of the city’s leaders.

“We don’t want to change the character of Murrieta,” said Barbara Nugent, a volunteer with the pro-recall group Rescue Murrieta. “People don’t want that to happen. They didn’t move here to create another Orange County.”

But recall opponents say that if the three councilmen who are targeted are removed, Murrieta will remain a stagnant bedroom community without the high-paying jobs, stores and restaurants the city needs to evolve into a more cosmopolitan community.

“It would be horrible for business,” said Dan Stephenson, who owns Rancon Real Estate and is a member of Southwest County Taxpayers for Responsible Government, a group comprising developers, attorneys and other businesspeople who oppose the recall.

A U.S. Census report released this month pegged Riverside County as the fasting-growing county in California, fed mostly by low-cost housing sprouting up along Interstate 15 and the county’s southern territories.

Among the fast-growing areas is the once-rural countryside of Murrieta, which in the late 1800s was part of a Basque settler’s sheep ranch and in the 1960s was a favorite locale for Southern California racehorse breeders. It was incorporated in 1991.

From 1990 to 2004, Murrieta’s population jumped from about 20,000 to about 78,000.

More than half of employed residents commute outside the city to their jobs, and of those, nearly two-thirds drive to San Diego, Orange or Los Angeles counties, according to the city.

Mayor Jack van Haaster, Mayor Pro-Tem Kelly Seyarto and Councilman Douglas R. McAllister face being recalled from the five-member council May 3. Seven candidates are competing to replace the councilmen.

“I love my city, and I want it back,” said Nancy Knight, a candidate for McAllister’s seat who has run unsuccessfully for the council three times.

Rex Oliver, president and chief executive of the Murrieta Chamber of Commerce, said the city was experiencing growing pains because of its growth, but that city leaders were working on solutions.

“It’s short-term pain for long-term gain,” he said.

Recall opponents blame the movement on a small group of citizens that hasn’t gotten its way on the shopping center rezoning and other pet projects, and has misled residents into signing recall petitions.

“Those people decided that they would try to take out three members of the council and make it about traffic and growth, which is a smart thing to do,” Seyarto said. “What it really is about is, these people have this ideology: Once they move into the city, all growth should stop.... It’s ground zero for NIMBYism.”

For a small town, it’s an expensive political fight. Campaign finance records show that Southwest County Taxpayers for Responsible Government has spent roughly $300,000 this year to oppose the recall; the targeted councilmen have spent nearly $30,000; their political challengers, nearly $15,000; and pro-recall Rescue Murrieta has spent about $5,400.

And the politicking has turned ugly, with outbursts a common occurrence at City Council meetings and name-calling between the various factions.

“There is no doubt,” said Tom Butler, a recall proponent, that the recall “has divided the city.”

Political scientists say that although recall elections can cause turbulence in a community, they epitomize a vibrant democracy.

“It’s really healthy,” said Shaun Bowler, a UC Riverside political science professor. “It means people in Murrieta are taking an interest in their community, not just sitting in traffic.”

Sherry Bebitch Jeffe, a senior scholar with USC’s School of Policy, Planning, and Development, said the historic 2003 recall of California Gov. Gray Davis brought new attention to the electorate’s recall powers.

“People are far more aware of it. They’ve seen it work,” she said.

Recall supporters began collecting signatures last summer, after several council decisions that they believed ignored residents’ wishes.

One-fifth of the city’s registered voters must sign petitions for a recall to qualify for the ballot. In December, the county registrar of voters certified that enough registered voters had signed petitions to recall each of the three councilmen.

The signature-gathering drive was sparked by a handful of decisions, including the city’s attempts to exercise eminent domain to buy property needed for a road widening, rezoning 10 acres of residential land at Washington Avenue and Nutmeg Street for a shopping center, and the mayor discussing his daughter’s proposal to build a day-care center with three city planning commissioners.

Rescue Murrieta spokesman Ed Faunce said residents, angry over those and other council decisions, began speaking last summer in the parking lot of City Hall after a council meeting, which led to a meeting later in his home. The recall effort was born.

“We were not getting any effective response through the normal channels -- submitting petitions, appearing and speaking at public hearings, lobbying the three city councilmen,” Butler said. “The realization came that recall was our only recourse left.”

Recall proponents say their concerns over particular projects are driven by an overarching issue -- a City Council that they say makes backroom deals with developers and fails to listen to residents.

“We have nothing against development of our city. We really don’t have anything against developers -- they’re not evil, they’re businessmen. They want to make money,” Faunce said. “But they shouldn’t have backdoor access to the City Council.”

As proof of developers being in league with the three councilmen targeted for recall, Faunce points to the financing of Southwest County Taxpayers for Responsible Government. Among the recent contributors are the county chapter of the Building Industry Assn., which donated $49,000 on April 11; Lennar Homes of Aliso Viejo, which donated $49,000 on April 20; and Shea Homes of Corona and William Lyon Homes of San Diego, which each donated $5,000 on April 15.

“Essentially, you have ... developers paying Sacramento political consultants to hire Idaho telemarketers to call Murrietans and tell them how to vote,” said Butler, who moved to the city from Irvine in 1994. “Tell me that’s not messed up.”

Developers are not alone in their opposition to the recall. They are joined by all five county supervisors, the county Republican Party, the city’s police and fire unions and some local businesses.

Van Haaster, who has served on the council since 1992, said the city was accomplishing its goals, such as increasing park acreage, establishing a library and adding police officers.

“We became a city in 1991. We have made amazing progress and produced amazing results with the limited resources we have to work with, while never raising taxes and never operating in the red,” he said.

He added that though he discussed his daughter’s day-care proposal with planning commissioners as a concerned father, he abstained from voting on the matter when it came before the council.

And McAllister, who had been on the council for six months when the signature drive began and regularly votes with Seyarto and van Haaster, said he had never been given a chance.

“I can’t take credit for all the good stuff the guys before me have done, and therefore, I shouldn’t really be blamed for anything bad,” he said.