Lawsuit: Sacramento officials broke law by delaying launch of Mayor Steinberg recall
City of Sacramento officials violated city code when they rejected paperwork to launch a recall campaign against Mayor Darrell Steinberg, a new lawsuit alleges.
The lawsuit, filed in federal court by the Sacramento Homeless Union, raises the issue of when elected officials in Sacramento can be targeted for recall.
Anthony Price, attorney for the homeless union, tried to submit the paperwork with the city on Feb. 25, according to emails attached to the complaint. But the city clerk’s office sent him an email saying he had to wait until June 15 — the date when Steinberg will be six months into his current term.
The city code reads: “The holder of any elective office may be recalled, in the manner provided by state law applicable to cities, by the electors after such person has held office six months.”
“The recall guidelines set forth in the city charter govern any recall notices or petitions for the mayor,” City Attorney Susana Alcala Wood said in a statement. “They are clear and unequivocal and plaintiffs’ attorney simply did not follow them.”’
Because the code does not say it needs to be six months from the current term, Price should be able to file the paperwork and launch the process, he said. Steinberg was sworn in as mayor in December 2016.
By rejecting the paperwork until June, the lawsuit alleges Wood acted in a partisan way, which is outside her authority.
The group announced plans to target Steinberg with the recall in early February, days after the city did not open emergency shelters for the homeless on the night of a major storm. The leaders of the group, which represents thousands of homeless people, also believe the mayor had not done enough to shelter and house the homeless prior to the storm, they have said.
Since the storm, the city has opened two “Safe Ground” sites for homeless people to safely camp in tents and vehicles. It has also announced it will soon open drop-in shelters year-round, not just when strict temperature thresholds are met.
Delaying the launch of the recall until June will hurt the effort because the storm is fading from peoples’ minds, Prince said.
“Here, the self confessed failure of Darrell Steinberg to open shelters during a deadly storm, of which he had forewarning, serves as a rallying point for those seeking to hold him fully accountable and subject for removal from office now, and not months from now when memories and public outrage have dimmed,” the lawsuit said.
Steinberg said in a written statement to The Sacramento Bee in February: “I’ve done more than any public official in Sacramento history to address the issue of people experiencing homelessness, but obviously we must do much more. I will continue my fight to get people indoors through whatever means necessary.”
Steinberg easily won reelection in March 2020, with more than 70% of the vote, though he did not have a serious challenger.
The lawsuit names the city, Wood, City Clerk Mindy Cuppy and Assistant City Clerk Wendy Klock-Johnson as defendants. It asks for a judge to order the city to accept the paperwork to launch the recall process immediately.
This story was originally published April 15, 2021 at 3:26 PM.
