Seaside city councilman responds to recall effort

Notice of Intention to Circulate Recall Petition released last week, on Monday Wizard released formal response

Jon Wizard surprised by effort, says reasons expressed for the recall in the notice of intent are wrong.

There is an effort underway to recall Seaside City Councilman Jon Wizard, who recently announced his campaign to unseat the incumbent mayor and who has voiced his support to cut budgets to reflect the needs of the community, including the police budget.

A group of 24 signatories appeared on a Notice of Intention to Circulate Recall Petition aimed at Wizard that was published in last week’s edition of the Monterey County Weekly.

Darryl Choates, a former Seaside city councilman and current business owner, is one of the signers of the notice. He said he supports the recall effort because he does not think Wizard is representing the residents of the city.

Other signatures that appear on the notice of intent include longtime Seaside resident, community activist, and school board member, Helen Rucker, businesswoman and 2018 Seaside mayoral candidate Lisa Anne Sawhney, and businessman and 2018 Seaside city council candidate Dennis Volk.

Rucker said that she has been here for about 60 years and signed the notice of intent because she does not think that in the time that Wizard has been on the council “he’s not been a player with the rest of us.”

She believes that change needs to happen in Seaside, but that progress should happen together.

“I grew up in the segregated south, so I have a history with the police,” said Rucker.

Over the years in Seaside, Rucker said she has spoken up when police have been “dead wrong” on how they handle some situations and joined up with groups to voice their concerns.

“Seaside City Councilman Jon Wizard must be recalled because he is a destructive force in our community and has been working against the needs of our citizens,” reads the notice in part. “Even though he campaigned in the last election to support the police, he has embarked on a course of action using inflammatory language designed to incite violence and to pit residents against each other.”

Wizard said the recall effort is a surprise to him and that the reasons expressed for the recall in the notice of intent are wrong.

Choates said he was witness to Wizard’s actions at recent Black Lives Matter protests in the city that caused him concern.

“I saw him personally walk a

group of protesters toward our officers and I mentioned it was wrong and inappropriate,” said Choates. “He doesn’t know the history of our city. There were shootings almost every night” at one time.

Choates cites an attempt by Wizard and other Black Lives Matter leaders to take a march onto the freeway.

“That’s not the type of elected official we want,” said Choates.

Wizard said that is not what happened at the march in early July by the Monterey County Black and Brown Solidarity Coalition when protesters marching from Seaside to CSU Monterey Bay had a brief confrontation with police at the entrance of Highway 1 at Del Monte Boulevard in Seaside.

“That’s not true. I’ve never advocated for any violent actions ever,” said Wizard. “I’ve never challenged the police.”

The city councilman said that unless you were standing next to him during his dialogue with police, it could be perceived differently but no one was inciting a riot and as a representative, he tried to diffuse the situation and got protesters to continue their march onto Monterey Road.

“The ability to recall elected officials is the right of the people and I will not interfere in that right,” said Wizard.

He said that he would ask that people, when presented with a recall petition do their own research to see if the accusations in the petition stand up to scrutiny.

Wizard has said the Seaside

City Council should consider “cutting $1.2 million from the police budget” to free up funding for city programs such as for the recreation department, or to fund a food distribution program and youth summer employment programs.

“A lot of that sounds good to young people, but Rome wasn’t built in a day,” said Rucker.

Wizard said he stands by that statement and believes that especially during the COVID-19 health emergency, the public needs more help which has been laid bare by the struggles and worsening economic conditions of many people.

But those against cuts to police funding see it differently.

Choates said the police here are doing a fine job and that statistics support that contention.

According to the FBI, the violent crime rate for Seaside in 2018 was 268. It has stood below state and national measures since 2010.

Choates said that he understands the Black Lives Matter movement and thinks it has brought about needed national attention,

but he says Seaside is not experiencing the same problems as in other parts of the country because police here have received necessary training to help them deal with people more effectively.

Choates said that training came about after the 1998 shooting death of Charles Vaughn Sr. during a confrontation with Seaside police. He said he stands with Black Lives Matter but he worries about his city.

“Instead of working within the city government structure to strengthen the Seaside Police Department, (Wizard) has openly called for this agency to be defunded by one million dollars,” said the letter of intent to recall Wizard. “This decrease would amount to the eight positions open for new officers not be filled, a reduction in communityoriented policing, and an increase in response time for 911 calls.”

Rucker said she does not believe Wizard speaks for the majority of Seaside residents.

“I don’t approve of defunding the police department. I’m in favor of changes being made, but defunding is critical … it has implications that have not been thought about,” said Rucker.

Over the last few years after the formation of the Blue Ribbon Task Force for the Reduction of Youth Violence and the community’s focus on reducing gang activity, crime has dropped off, and Wizard believes that is precisely why shifting funds from the police budget to expanding programs such as this and others that serve the community is a better use of city funds.

“I’ve never said to abolish the police and would never advocate for that,” said Wizard.

Wizard received the most votes when he was elected to the Seaside City Council in 2018. He has held jobs in law enforcement and fire departments and has an associate’s degree in criminal justice among others.

As far as not being in tune with the desires of the residents of Seaside, Wizard points to two fellow councilmembers that have endorsed his run for mayor, and his being instrumental in bringing changes to the city such as a homeless shelter, and more affordable housing.

“Both Jason (Campbell) and Alissa (Kispersky) endorsed me, and the three of us are a majority of the council,” said Wizard. “So, the idea that I’m ‘not a team player’ doesn’t really hold water.”

Wizard announced his candidacy for mayor of Seaside on June 22, seeking to oust the city’s current leader, Ian Oglesby.

The recall effort starts with the notice of intent. The proponents of the petition will then have to gather signatures from 20% of registered voters in Seaside or roughly 2,735 people within 120 days.

According to the rules governing a recall effort, the incumbent has the right to respond to the grounds for the proposed recall contained in the proponents’ Notice of Intention filed with the Monterey County elections official within seven days after the filing of the Notice of Intention by the proponents.

By Monday afternoon, Wizard released his formal response.

“I don’t approve of defunding the police department. I’m in favor of changes being made, but defunding is critical … it has implications that have not been thought about.”

—Helen Rucker, school board member