Effort to recall Live Oak mayor fails
Proponents miss Friday deadline for signatures
Proponents of the recall effort against 26-year-old Live Oak Mayor Aleks Tica did not meet the Friday deadline to turn in signatures, the Sutter County Elections Office said.
Live Oak residents Rick Dais and J.R. Thiara told the Appeal-democrat in April they planned to file an intent to recall Tica over his stance on proposed utility rate increases. Proponents needed to gather 810 verified voter signatures within 60 days to get the effort either on the November ballot (if they didn’t use the entire 60 days), or a special election ballot. It takes 50 percent of the votes, plus one, to effect a recall.
Tica said the failed effort showed him the support he has from fellow Live Oak residents.
“People were encouraging when they heard about it and the support has been shown,” Tica said Saturday.
Tica said the Council still has not adopted a rate increase and the issue is still in “talks:” he said houses currently being built (about a dozen at Poplar Way, with more expected in the future) show promise of additional ratepayers and tax revenue.
“We understand that a large increase at one time … people aren’t going to love it,” he said. “Two years now we’ve been working on it … We want to come out with a result, the question is, how much of an increase?”
Dais said the effort got very low numbers and wasn’t “even close” to Live Oak mayor reaching the 810-signature mark. He said proponents got a late start and worked within a tight timeframe, but overall he’s glad the effort was initiated.
“We wanted to create awareness of what’s going on in Live Oak,” Dais said Saturday.
He said residents thought a recall was too personal, but Dais said he believed when running to fill a seat, elected officials are signing up for the good and the bad. And while the effort was specifically to recall Tica, he said it served as a message to the entire City Council.
“A recall is a great way to get somebody’s attention, and that’s what we wanted to do,” he said.
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