Effort to recall Nichols on hold till next meeting

June Casagrande

The leader of a movement to recall Councilman Dick Nichols said that

he’ll wait until the next council meeting to give Nichols a chance to

defend himself, but at the same time, Lloyd Ikerd said he is

preparing for the most likely scenario.

“We’re going to give him an opportunity to do whatever he’s going

to do. We’re going to wait two weeks until the next council meeting,”

said Ikerd, the area businessman who is leading the recall effort.

“In the meantime, we’re going to be laying the groundwork, getting

organized.”

The same basic rules that govern the recall effort against Gov.

Gray Davis apply at the local level. It starts with a petition to put

the matter on a ballot. The state elections code requires that, for a

city the size of Newport Beach, the signatures of 15% of the city’s

registered voters are needed to put the matter on the ballot. If

enough signatures are verified, two questions will be posed to voters

on the same ballot: Do you want to recall Nichols, and who should be

elected to replace him?

Ikerd said that he is preparing the petition documents and

organizing supporters to gather signatures.

“We’re not sure yet how or where we will be gathering signatures,”

Ikerd said. “It depends on what type of organizations get involved.”

All six of Nichols’ council colleagues said that he should step

down from the council after Nichols said in a phone interview that he

opposes expanding grass areas on Corona del Mar State Beach because,

“with grass, we usually get Mexicans coming in there early in the

morning, and they claim it as theirs, and it becomes their personal,

private grounds all day.”

The council does not have the power to oust one of their own. They

do, however, plan to have a formal discussion on the remark at their

next council meeting and consider whether to remove Nichols from his

committee appointments. More than half of the council have said that

they would support a citizen recall.

“I’m embarrassed to have to make excuses for him to my

constituents,” Councilman Don Webb said at Tuesday’s council meeting.

“I ask him to resign and, if he doesn’t, I ask citizens to recall

him.”

This support for a citizen recall, echoed by the majority of the

council, came even before Ikerd announced that his recall plan was in

place. Ikerd reported at Tuesday’s council meeting that he had taken

out papers to recall Nichols after he witnessed Nichols making

another comment about Mexicans earlier this year.

Members of the government affairs committee of the Newport Beach

Chamber of Commerce were discussing in one of their monthly meetings

the idea whether a high school should be built in concert with a

housing development in the Banning Ranch area. Ikerd announced to the

council on Tuesday that, at that meeting attended by about 30 or 40

chamber members, Nichols said that he opposed the school idea because

the school would have a large “Mexican” enrollment.

Nichols has said he will not resign his post and that he will

fight any effort to oust him. Ikerd said that, in light of several of

Nichols’ comments about Mexicans, he suspects a recall vote would be

successful.

“I think that if we can get the signatures, the chances are very,

very high that voters would recall him,” Ikerd said Wednesday.

There are 52,040 registered voters in Newport Beach, a

representative from the county’s registrar of voters said. The

petition would need 7,806 verified signatures to put a recall vote on

the ballot.

* JUNE CASAGRANDE covers Newport Beach and John Wayne Airport. She

may be reached at (949) 574-4232 or by e-mail at

june.casagrande@latimes.com.