The recall targets Mayor Alvaro Preciado and City Councilmembers Leticia Gamez, David Reynosa and Pablo Hernandez. The effort was organized by Dalilah Barajas, who founded the recall over concerns about city leadership.
"The fact that this administration believes that they don't have to give us proper information or the right information, it just makes it a lot harder for us to trust them," Barajas said.
"It was the lack of transparency, the lack of accountability," Barajas said. "We're trying to save our city from the misuse of funds."
On March 4, Avenal city leaders filed a lawsuit against Kings County challenging the validity of the recall election. Last week, a judge ruled in the county's favor, allowing the election to move forward.
City Manager Antony Lopez said the city plans to appeal the decision.
"The city remains hopeful that there will be further review at the appellate side," Lopez said. "So, we're taking it to the appeals court."
The recall election follows a series of events involving a boxing event that the city chose to host at its unfinished community center. The Kings County Fire Chief deemed the location unsafe, prompting the Kings County Board of Supervisors to unanimously vote to declare a public safety emergency and end the county's fire services contract with the city.
Lopez believes this recall election violates the election code.
"The elections code is clear that any sort of elections in the municipality's setting needs to be started at the municipality, so with the city clerk," Lopez said. "This recall was not started with the city clerk."
Barajas disputes that claim, saying she followed all required steps.
"I did everything they told me to do. I went to the city clerk, she directed me to the county," Barajas said. "I went to the elections department, and they gave me the proper paperwork and with that paperwork I started my recall."
According to court documents, the recall election could cost between $51,000 and $66,000. Lopez said the city believes there should be more communication before the process moves forward.
"That's why we contend it because there should've been an agreement, there should've been a resolution. There should've been some sort of communication about how this recall would actually be," he said.
Action News reached out to the Kings County, who said in a statement:
The role of Kings County in this matter has been straightforward: to carry out its legal obligations and ensure that the will of the voters is respected. The Avenal Recall proponents complied with all applicable legal requirements to qualify the matter for the ballot, and the County's responsibility is simply to administer that process in accordance with state law. The County is committed to protecting the integrity of the election process and ensuring that the voices of voters, and those who followed the legal procedures to bring this matter forward, can be heard. The County does not take a position on the outcome of the recall election but to ensure the process is conducted lawfully and fairly so that voters may exercise their rights.
Late Monday afternoon, a court of appeals directed the county's registrar of voters to sequester ballots and pause the tally until further order from the court.
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