Recall Effort For Baca Gets 571 Google News Mentions
greg...@yahoo.ca
lead the way. Hopefully some ppl without criminal records can get in on
this. No wonder he is angry after serving 23 days for disrupting a
supervisors meeting and Paris gets out in three days. Good luck ppl in LA
County in getting a sheriff who doesn't cover up for rich celebrities and
have ties to the criminals in Scientology.
Effort launched to recall Sheriff Baca
A failed candidate for county supervisor who was fired and jailed last year
mounts a campaign to oust the lawman over his handling of celebrity cases
and racial problems.
By Stuart Pfeifer and Jack Leonard
Times Staff Writers
Published June 12, 2007
former Los Angeles County employee launched a campaign Monday to recall
Sheriff Lee Baca, citing last week's early release of Paris Hilton as an
example of gross mismanagement of the nation's largest Sheriff's
Department.
Andrew Ahlering conceded that recalling Baca would be costly and
time-consuming but said the public frenzy about Hilton's release could
generate the necessary interest. He discussed the recall drive live on CNN
Headline News and has been interviewed by half a dozen local television and
radio stations.
To qualify the recall effort for the ballot, Ahlering must collect more than
395,000 signatures of registered Los Angeles County voters within 160 days.
"It's a massive undertaking," Ahlering said by telephone while preparing for
an appearance on CNN's "Nancy Grace" show.
hlering is familiar with Baca's jails. He served 23 days in County Jail last
year after he was accused of disrupting a Board of Supervisors' meeting. He
later pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor charge. He was placed on probation
and ordered to stay away from board meetings.
aca declined to comment on the recall effort. He released Hilton last week,
citing concern about her health, only to have a judge order her returned to
jail.
Most recall campaigns rely on paid signature gatherers who receive as much
as $1 per signature. That could bring the costs of a Baca recall close to
$500,000.
hlering said he was concerned by the department's handling of several
high-profile cases, including last year's drunk driving arrest of actor Mel
Gibson, and by racial violence in the jails.
Ahlering's political experience includes an unsuccessful campaign for
supervisor last year against incumbent Gloria Molina.
Molina swept to victory with 67% of the vote. Ahlering came in third with
11%.
was during that campaign that Ahlering was arrested in downtown Los Angeles
after allegedly disrupting a supervisors' meeting. A month later, he was
fired from his county job.
hlering has appealed his firing.
stuart....@latimes.com
jack.l...@latimes.com
Copyright © 2007, The Los Angeles Times <http://www.latimes.com/>