Effort to recall Householder from Antioch school board ends, city clerk recall continues
Organizers say paid petitioners gathered 1,500 signatures on both Householder and Thorpe recalls in first two days
Ellie Householder. Photo by AUSD.
By Allen D. Payton
In a Facebook post on the Recall Ellie Householder Facebook page on Thursday, proponent Lindsey Amezcua announced the end of the effort to remove the Antioch School Board Trustee from her position. However, signature gathering for Householder’s recall to remove her as Antioch City Clerk continues. (See related article)
Amezcua wrote, “The Recall Initiative for Ellie Householder, AUSD School Board Trustee has ended and will not move forward.
Please note: The Recall Initiative for Ellie Householder, Antioch City Clerk is still active and gathering signatures!!
The following quote was provided on behalf of the proponents of the Recall for Ellie Householder, AUSD School Board Trustee:
‘We opted not to turn in the signatures that we collected. When we missed the deadline to be able to put the recall initiative on the June Primary ballot; we decided that it was not in the best interest of our school district to pursue a special election when Ms. Householder’s term is over in November.
Collectively, we are all pleased with the results. Our goal was always, to restore peace and collaboration for the Board of Education and we saw a noticeable shift once we began this process.
We woke residents up to the dysfunction that was occurring and we are happy with the impact our attempt had.’”
According to former Antioch School Board Trustee and President Diane Gibson-Gray in a comment below the Facebook post, “The signature gathers collected more signatures than voted for her.”
“Unfortunately, she continues to display her lack of understanding of her elected position,” Gibson-Gray’s comment continued. “The day after the signature due date, she reached out to her favorite news anchor at KTVU Fox 2 with the message, ‘I’m still here….’. Her message should have been, I’ve learned from this experience and will do better to represent all AUSD constituents.”
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Householder came under fire for how she was conducting school board meetings as president, including preventing Superintendent Stephanie Anello from speaking, telling her “you’re not recognized”, as well as violating Robert’s Rules of Order and the state’s Brown Act open meeting law among other reasons. (See related articles here and here)
The dual officeholder currently serves in a citywide seat on the school board, but she moved into Area 1 which is currently represented by Antonio Hernandez whose seat isn’t up for election until 2024. So, unless Householder moves into either Areas 2, where Trustee Mary Rocha lives and whose seat is also up for election, this year or Area 5, she will be unable to run for re-election in November.
Paid Signature Gatherers Hired
The recall effort against both Mayor Lamar Thorpe and City Clerk Householder recently hired paid signature gatherers who obtained 1,500 signatures in just their first two days, Amezcua and Kathy Cabrera, another recall leader, shared.
The deadline for gathering the required signatures for Thorpe is May 11. For Householder’s city clerk recall the deadline is June 6, since hers started later. For more information on the recalls visit www.recallelliehouseholder.com and www.recalllamarthorpe.com.
