CITIZENS GROUP KICKS OFF RECALL PETITION CAMPAIGN: RESIDENTS TO RALLY AT LAKESIDE COMMUNITY CENTER
LAKESIDE, Ca. – Lakeside citizens who are concerned by the recent firing of their Fire Chief, Mark Baker are taking to the streets, Saturday, April 10, 2010 in their effort to get a recall election put on November’s ballot.
The citizens group, Lakeside First to Recall Director Nicholas Johnson and Director Jim Bingham, will hold a rally at 9 a.m. at the LakesideCommunity Center in Lindo Lake Park and will then walk precincts within the Lakeside Fire District in order to gather the 7,900 signatures required for the recall measure to pass.
We have been receiving a tremendous outpouring of community support in this effort”, said Milt Cyphert, Chair of Lakeside First. “It is amazing to see how our community has banded together in such short notice and with such passion at what certainly appears to be the wrongful termination of our Fire Chief. The people will have the last say on this one”.
The County Registrar of Voters approved the recall petition March 18, 2010.
Lakeside residents are up in arms about an obscurely posted, “special meeting” held on Saturday, January 16, 2010, with only 24 hours notice, where three of five Lakeside Fire Protection District board members voted to oust popular fire chief, Mark Baker, despite overwhelming objections from citizens who had happened upon the notification. (The third member, Pete Liebig, is not targeted in the recall because he is up for reelection in November)
Fueled by the board’s refusal to offer any tangible explanation for the firing, except a “loss of confidence and incompatibility of management style,” and bolstered by the fact that that Baker had never had a negative performance review during his years of service, concerned citizens have taken matters into their own hands. Board members facing recall have said they can't discuss reasons behind the firing because the Board's legal counsel as advised them not to discuss confidential personnel issues.
Information about the recall campaign can be found at www.LakesideFirst.org.