October 24, 2009 - County registrar suggests election date

Paper: Press-Enterprise, The ( Riverside, CA)
Title: County registrar suggests election date
Date: October 24, 2009
Author: GENE GHIOTTO, THE PRESS-ENTERPRISE

The Lake Elsinore City Council will decide Tuesday whether to set a date for the recall election for Councilman Thomas Buckley.

City Clerk Debora Thomsen sent the council a list of potential election dates provided by the Riverside County registrar of voters . The dates start in late January and extend through late February, with the registrar recommending a Feb. 23 election, according to a staff report.

If the council declines to set a date, state law requires the registrar to set the election, which would cost the city between $30,000 and $50,000.

The registrar recommended that date to give candidates the longest campaign period, the report states. The registrar also said that if the election were set earlier, the mailing of campaign literature and absentee and sample ballots, scheduled for Dec. 17 to Jan. 5, could be affected by the volume of holiday mail, according to the report.

The election could be held in conjunction with a possible election to fill a state Senate seat that might open, according to the report. The Riverside County Board of Supervisors has recommended that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger appoint state Sen. John Benoit, R-Bermuda Dunes, to replace Roy Wilson, who resigned days before he died in August.

If Benoit is appointed, an election to replace him could take place Jan. 26 or Feb. 23, the report states.

The group seeking to recall Buckley has accused him of profiting from a land deal while serving as the head of the city's redevelopment agency and said it is unhappy with his leadership. Buckley, who has said he is confident he can win the recall election, has denied profiting from the sale.

Edition: South
Section: Local
Page: C1
Record Number: 4313433
(c) Copyright, 2009, The Press-Enterprise