Recall organizers say they have enough signatures

Councilwoman Catherine Alvarez speaks at Downey’s Havana Nights concert. (City of Downey photo)

DOWNEY — The recall effort against Councilwoman Catherine Alvarez pushed forward in its attempt to oust Downey’s District 3 representative, turning in its signatures ahead of schedule earlier this week, setting the stage for a recall election.

Campaign volunteers handed 4,016 signatures over to the city clerk on Tuesday, surpassing the 3,454 it needed before its Jan. 5 deadline.

The signatures were tallied by city clerk Alicia Duarte upon submission. They will also need to be verified by the LA County Registrar-Recorder’s office within 30 days.

Should the number of signatures be deemed sufficient, then the matter will come back to the City Council, which then has 14 days to call for a special election. Should they fail to do so, the county would have five days to schedule the election.

The election would need to take place between 88 and 125 days after that order is called.

According to the city charter, the initial vote would only be to recall Alvarez or not; there would be no candidates attached to the ballot.

After the initial recall vote, if Alvarez is removed, then prospective candidates could file to run to serve the over two years remaining of her term.

Morale was high with recallers.

“We are energized; we feel we are doing the community a big service with everybody that thanks us for doing what we were doing,” said Dorothy Pemberton. “It’s going to be a monumental time in our history, but we’re doing it for the best possible reasons: Good decision makers in crucial seats to make good judgements for Downey.”

According to former mayor Mario Guerra, this is the first time in Downey’s history that a council person faces a recall.

“We’ve never had such an unethical council person on there with this kind of history,” said Guerra. “What happened is the voters, once they found out, these amazing people that are passionate about our community went out there and got the signatures to put this on the ballot.

“That shows you love of community. They’re not getting paid; this is a volunteer situation. I’ve never seen a more dedicated group of passionate people, only for the love of their city.”

Since serving Alvarez recall papers last July, the recall committee has maintained that its motivation for seeking Alvarez’s removal stems from her not disclosing her criminal history to voters while running for office.

Alvarez has been arrested numerous times, including convictions for welfare fraud and shoplifting, none of which was publicly revealed before the November 2020 election.

Recall supporters pose outside City Hall after turning in their signatures. (Photo by Alex Dominguez)

The recall committee released a statement to the Downey Patriot, saying in part:

“Councilwoman Catherine Alvarez didn’t disclose her criminal record before running for office and the recall election will give voters the opportunity to vote to remove her, now being fully informed of her past.

“She hid her criminal record from the public because she knew Downey residents would never have voted for her knowing she was convicted, and pled guilty, of welfare fraud; has a lifetime ban from Michael’s at Downey Landing for shoplifting; and had two warrants for her arrest. Her evictions and bankruptcies do not factor into the recall although it does show a moral indifference.

“Our mission was simple: inform Downey voters of Councilwoman Catherine Alvarez’s criminal record and give them a chance to remove her now that they know the facts and her true character is exposed. An election to do just that will now happen.”

In a statement, Alvarez called attempts to recall her an attack.

"This recall effort is an attack on the voters that democratically elected me to represent them in November 2020. That the political machine that I defeated is unwilling to respect the voters' wishes and is now spending thousands of dollars to undo their decision. These dirty tactics are going to cost Downey taxpayers several thousands of dollars."