Baldwin Park : Recall Changes Sought

Two members of the City Council are seeking to allow recalled Mayor Jack B. White and Councilman Leo W. King to remain in office until their successors are chosen in a special election in July.

White and King were removed from the council last week. A recall vote on the late Councilman Robert H. McNeill, whose name was required by state law to appear on the ballot despite his death in December, ended in a tie.

Had all three been recalled, White and King would have been allowed to remain in office until the special election. But McNeill’s victory--which in the law’s eyes leaves a majority of three on the council despite the vacancy caused by McNeill’s death--requires that White and King step down when the results of the election are made final next week.

At the request of the two remaining council members, Bobbie Izell and Richard Gibson, Assemblywoman Sally Tanner (D-El Monte) said she will offer an amendment to an existing bill that would allow White and King to remain on the council until July.