Group begins recall against Sacramento Councilman Loloee, says he doesn’t live in district
Two women with ties to North Sacramento are planning to launch a recall campaign against City Councilman Sean Loloee, arguing Loloee does not live in the district he was elected to represent.
“The fact is he doesn’t live here,” said Alicia Bledsoe, a Del Paso Heights homeowner who is part of the effort. “It doesn’t appear that hard to find.”
The city launched an inquiry into Loloee’s residence in early July after The Sacramento Bee reported that another family lives at the home where Loloee is registered to vote and that neighbors to the property said they had not seen the councilman there. When The Bee visited the house in early June, a man there said he and his son rented the house from Loloee.
Ninety days after opening its independent inquiry, the city has not announced the results of its investigation.
Bledsoe and Kelli Cooper say they’re tired of waiting, and want to try to remove him another way.
Cooper, a Roseville resident who plans to move near family in Del Paso Heights this month, said she intends to serve the councilman with the recall paperwork Thursday, formally launching the process.
If Bledsoe and Cooper serve Loloee with the “notice of intent to circulate a recall petition,” and if the City Clerk’s Office verifies it, Loloee would have time to submit a written response, and the group would be able start collecting signatures.
Their goal would be to force a special recall election in 2023 ahead of the end of Loloee’s term in 2024.
Loloee and his spokeswoman did not immediately return an email seeking comment. He has said he lives in the home on Nogales Street in his district, and that he has allowed another family to live with him.
Lololee represents Sacramento’s District 2, one of the eight in the city. His district covers the northeastern part of the city and includes Old North Sacramento, Hagginwood, Woodlake, Del Paso Heights and part of Robla.
Loloee’s wife owns a home in a Granite Bay, where he says his children also live. He owns a grocery store chain that operates in his City Council district.
Several community leaders are on board with the push to recall Loloee. Ramona Landeros, who ran against Loloee in 2020, said she would sign the petition, and thinks others would, as well.
“From what I hear, people are not at all happy with him being in office,” Landeros said.
Del Paso Heights Community Association President Greg Jefferson said he would also sign the petition.
“How long does it take to do an investigation?” Jefferson said. “C’mon.”
Qualifying a recall might prove difficult for the group.
Another group that has been trying to recall Councilwoman Katie Valenzuela, another council member elected in 2020, has run into barriers. The City Clerk’s office determined its paperwork was invalid, due to a technical mistake, and the group failed to get enough signatures to qualify the recall on the timeline they wanted. They say they’re trying again. That group has a lawyer, which the group that wants to recall Loloee does not have.
In California, if a city council member does not reside or have a domicile in the district they represent, the council can vote to declare the seat vacant, and the member would be replaced. A resident of the district could also file a “quo warranto” lawsuit, a mechanism that tests a person’s right to hold office, according to Fred Woocher, an election law attorney.
This story was originally published October 5, 2022 at 4:26 PM.
