How smart is Ruiz recall bid?

It is easy to understand why people are unhappy with Coast Community College District trustee Armando Ruiz. Nearly a year and a half ago, he pulled a fast one on the system, retiring on the same day from the college board and his counseling job at Irvine Valley College in the South Orange County Community College District. The move, via a loophole in state law that allowed a public official to collect far higher pension by retiring from two posts at once, boosted Ruiz’s retirement from about $60,000 to $120,000 a year.

And then he turned right around and ran again for the board of trustees, on the ballot as an incumbent. He won, and he still serves on the board.

Last year, Ruiz was the target of a failed recall campaign; it didn’t manage to collect enough signatures to get to a special election. Among those active in the recall, organized by political consultant David Kidd, were Ruiz’s board colleague Jerry Patterson and Huntington Beach Union High School District board member Bonnie Castrey ? a fairly influential list of community and education leaders. But even their names were not enough to get much traction.

Organizers say they made mistakes the last time around and are ready to try again, this time with a smarter strategy.

They plan to pay signature gatherers, as well as use volunteers; they will run the campaign while school is in session; and they are focused on the fall general election, which keeps them immune from charges that their vote just will cost the voters money (an irony given the reason for opposing Ruiz).

Among those who are not taking part this time is Patterson, who told the Independent: “I like to be successful and the last ? [petition], to my amazement, wasn’t. Either people don’t care or they don’t see his conduct as I did. I’m not going to fight that battle. I’ve got a lot of other stuff to do.”

While we, too, are disappointed in how Ruiz worked the system and believe his double-dipping ill serves the community, we are less than amazed that the first recall failed. Instead, we are skeptical that there really is enough discontent among voters to justify this recall.

QUESTION OF THE WEEK

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