Householder served with recall papers to remove her from Antioch City Clerk position
Laura Young turns to walk away after serving Antioch City Clerk Ellie Householder with a recall notice on W. First Street near the site of the mayor’s press conference as City Manager Ron Bernal speaks with Tom Trost while waiting for it to begin on Tuesday, Nov. 30, 2021.
Proponents accuse her of abusing her power to help Mayor Thorpe in his recall and violating California Public Records Act
Householder reads the recall notice.
By Allen Payton
While waiting for Mayor Lamar Thorpe to arrive for his press conference on providing more funds to house 15 of Antioch’s homeless population, Tuesday morning, Antioch City Clerk Ellie Householder was served with recall papers, again. This time it’s to remove her from the elected city position. Signature gathering for a separate recall to remove Householder from her position as an Antioch School Board trustee is already underway. (See related article).
In their Notice of Intention to Circulate a Recall Petition, the 20 proponents, who are all Antioch residents and registered voters, offered the reasons for the recall which are mainly related to how she’s mishandled the recall for Thorpe. (See related article)
Householder’s recall notice reads: “TO THE HONORABLE Elizabeth Householder: Pursuant to Section 11020, California Elections Code, the undersigned registered qualified voters of Antioch, in the State of California, hereby give notice that we are the proponents of a recall petition and that we intend to seek your recall and removal from the office of City Clerk, in Antioch, California, and to demand election of a successor in that office.
The Grounds for the recall are as follows:
You violated the California Public Records Act (Government Code 6253) by failing to provide a copy of a public document to the records department at Antioch City Hall and thus hindered a constituent from their right to inspect a public record. You rejected the first drafted petition to recall the Antioch mayor without including a statement of what alterations to the petition were necessary (Elections Code 11042(c)). You then rejected a second petition citing election code 107(b), which is not applicable to the recall effort. You ignored the proponents request to send your findings via email, instead choosing to send them via certified mail at a cost to the city and cited elections code 11224 as your reason to not email them. Election code 11224 refers to the certification process of approved petitions that have already been signed by registered voters and was erroneously cited. You omitted emails from a Public Records Request, once again violating the California Public Records Act. This misuse and misapplication of Election Codes and continued violations of Government Code 6253 illustrates your inability to do the job in which you were elected and warrants your removal.”
Photo of Householder’s City Clerk recall notice. Home addresses of the proponents redacted by the Herald.
Householder had no comments at the time she was served. She was asked via email, Wednesday afternoon, if she had any comments in response at the time of publication.
Householder has 10 days to respond in writing. Then the proponents must submit the petition to the Antioch City Clerk’s Office. But Householder cannot deal with it and must be handled by the Deputy City Clerk.
Like in Thorpe’s recall, organizers will have to gather approximately 9,400 signatures within 160 days for Householder’s recall from her city clerk position to qualify for the ballot.
Please check back later for any updates to this report.
the attachments to this post:
Householder’s City Clerk recall notice redacted
Householder reads recall notice 11-30-21
Householder served by Laura Young 11-30-21
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