LEMON GROVE MAYOR SUES ORGANIZER OF RECALL EFFORT
Updated Aug. 21 with a statement from King.
By Karen Pearlman
August 14, 2025 (Lemon Grove) – After several months of rebuffs from the city of Lemon Grove, proponents of a recall effort to remove Lemon Grove Mayor Alysson Snow from office have finally received the city’s OK to move forward on their petition.
Snow, meanwhile, has filed a lawsuit in San Diego County Superior Court against the organizers of a recall effort, including main petitioner Kenneth King. The city of Lemon Grove’s election official Joel Pablo, the Lemon Grove City Clerk, is also named.
Snow, elected last November, is alleging that the group is fraudulent in its attempt to remove her from office. The lawsuit seeks to immediately halt the circulation of the petition that Snow claims fraudulently appends voters’ signatures to a previous Notice of Intention to Recall Petition, which Snow calls a “False NOI.”
In her suit, Snow calls out the recall proponents for a scheme she calls “bait and switch,” that she contends has deceived voters in order to garner their signatures on the recall petition.
Propenents say that the recall was initiated by residents who are concerned about the mayor’s role to locate a homeless shelter near a school without proper community input or notification.
But Snow’s lawsuit said that the recall organizers created a notice of intention (or NOI) which included unsubstantiated claims about Snow’s supposed involvement in what they claim is a “sprawling federal investigation into corruption in cannabis licensing.”
According to Snow, that false claim was part of information that was used to gather signatures.
“The video and photographic evidence shows that recall proponents used one form of the Notice of Intention to Recall, that included the False Statement, to obtain signatures, but then switched the face page and filed a different Notice of Intention with the City Clerk,” said one of Snow's attorneys, Allison E. Burns.
The official public notice for grounds for the recall was published in the East County Californian on June 20 ( https://eccalifornian.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/6-20-25-CAL-legals.pdf ).
It says that Snow “misled the people of Lemon Grove, putting our community at risk. She went to the Board of Supervisors, claiming the residents supported a low-barrier homeless encampment near our schools and homes without engaging them first.
“Snow campaigned by saying the encampment would house families with children and seniors, while in fact, it would house the mentally ill, drug addicted, and petty criminals. This could bring more homeless individuals to our city without necessary resources, increased sheriff presence, or assurances that Lemon Grove’s own homeless will be helped.
“Snow appears to ignore calls for a forensic audit despite an auditor warning of serious accounting errors and potential fraud. She appears to have had a political opponent detained at a public meeting. She allegedly used racial stereotypes against a community activist.
“Alysson’s decisions could endanger public safety, lower property values, and degrade our community. Snow does not appear to represent the benefits of the city. An overwhelming number of constituents have spoken up against this but seem to be ignored. Lemon Grove cannot afford any public official who does not represent the city’s best interest.
“We need a mayor who puts us first.”
‘Disrupt progress’ effort, Snow says
Snow, who was elected in November, views the recall effort as an attempt to disrupt progress in Lemon Grove.
Snow’s published answer to the NOI reads: “This recall isn’t about policy – it’s about politics and personal animosity. I trust the people of Lemon Grove to see through it. To be clear, I ran for office to help make Lemon Grove a clean, safe, and prosperous city by fixing our streets, supporting small businesses, and helping families afford to keep a roof over their head and food on the table.
“Since elected, we have repaired 63 sections of streets, secured over $20 million in outside investments to help stop and prevent homelessness, and new businesses are filling up the empty storefronts. This is just the beginning of the new, improved Lemon Grove.
“On the other hand, the recall proponents would rather spend $250,000 to $400,000 of our taxpayer dollars to settle political vendettas, than fix streets.
“I welcome opposing views and discourse on how to help the City of Lemon Grove progress forward – it’s part of a healthy democracy. What I will not tolerate are efforts to derail progress through smear campaigns.
“I remain committed to the community I’ve called home for 15 years, and I will continue working every day to serve with integrity, compassion, and courage. Let’s move forward together.”
King, who did not respond initially to several emails or phone messages left by East County Magazine, is the first signee on the recall petition.
After this article was published, King still did not address the allegations raised by the mayor regarding allegedly misleading tactics used to collect signatures nor Snow's claim that King made up claims that she was under federal investigation.
However he did email this statement: "This recall is about protecting Lemon Grove. We have to solve OUR homelessness before we help the county with theirs. Alysson Snow sold us out to the county for her own future. She didn't care that she was handicapping ours. We need a mayor who is committed to putting Lemon Grove first! This video was made today. Does it look like we can afford to bring more homelessness to Lemon Grove?" He also sent a movie file that could not be opened due to a message stating the file may be corrupted.
Snow maintains that the recall is not about policies but is “sour grapes,” by the petitioners.
“This recall is a political stunt, a really expensive one,” Snow said. “The recall proponents want the city to spend almost half a million dollars for their recall. Most people in Lemon Grove would like to spend that money paving streets and fixing storm drains, not on a recall. I trust the people of Lemon Grove to see through the drama.”
In May, former Lemon Grove City Council member Jerry Jones wrote on social media that he didn’t support a recall. He said that the recall is “driven by an individual (King) who has a grudge against what he calls a corrupt government.”
“This recall is an affront to the entire community more than it is to Mayor Snow,” Jones wrote. “The community will pay for this debacle, not Mayor Snow. I want to be clear that a recall of Mayor Snow is nothing but a personal grudge, and it hurts the community more than it does Mayor Snow.”
The Background
Pablo, the city clerk, said the recall proponents had erred several times in earlier attempts to have the petition accepted by the city. He said that “at every stage, my role has been strictly administrative and guided entirely by the Elections Code to ensure the process is fair, lawful and consistent with established procedures provided by the Secretary of State’s Recall Manual.”
He referred to the elections guide at https://elections.cdn.sos.ca.gov/recalls/recall-procedures-guide.pdf
A timeline of the recall effort follows:
Pablo said King and the other proponents first submitted their NOI to recall on April 15, and in it, they included the text of the notice, the statement of reasons and the names and signatures of the proponents.
“As required by the Elections Code, the Notice was reviewed for compliance with statutory requirements, including word limits, formatting and inclusion of the mayor’s right to respond,” Pablo said. “During the initial review, I identified several technical defects and omissions that did not conform to Elections Code requirements. These were communicated to the proponents in writing, along with specific instructions on how to correct them.”
After the corrections were advised, the proponents submitted revised versions of the NOI addressing the changes needed.
Each revised submission was re-reviewed to ensure all statutory requirements were met, Pablo said, adding that “in some instances, further clarification or minor corrections were requested before acceptance.”
Pablo said a second submission was received April 29, and returned to the proponents with requested corrections the next day. A third submission was received May 6, and returned to the proponents with requested corrections on May 8.
The fourth submission was accepted on June 5, certified by the county’s Registrar of Voters on June 6. Snow’s answer to the NOI was submitted on June 12 and that NOI was the one published on June 20 in the East County Californian.
The proponents then submitted the proposed petition format, which was reviewed for statutory compliance with formatting, required content, and inclusion of both the NOI and mayor’s input.
Pablo said that each revised submission was re-reviewed to ensure all statutory requirements were met. In some instances, he said, further clarification or minor corrections were requested before acceptance.
The first submission was received June 23 and returned to the proponents for corrections on July 1. A second submission was received July 8, and returned to the proponents for corrections on July 17.
The third submission, received July 28, was approved for circulation on Aug. 7.
“Once the petition met all legal requirements, I issued formal approval, which started the 120-day circulation period for collecting signatures,” Pablo said.
Snow Weighs In
Regarding the allegations made in the NOI that was published, Snow said the accusation that she went to the Board of Supervisors and asked for “encampments,” is not true.
“Anyone can listen to the County meeting — it's recorded — and hear for themselves the truth,” she said. “I asked for the opposite. I asked for help to end encampments. The County listened. The County is investing over $20 million in building transitional housing and is providing mental and behavioral health services, case management and housing navigation assistance. The Regional Task Force on Homelessness also stepped up to help our city. Together the city and RTFH worked to secure an $8.4 million grant to end the encampments in Lemon Grove along the 94 corridor, behind Food 4 Less. This is real help.”
Snow also maintains that recall proponents’ allegation regarding the audit is false.
“The independent auditor did not find any potential fraud,” she said. “The auditor’s findings are public record. The proponents hope people do not do their own research.”
As for a having a political opponent detained, Snow said that “A former councilmember did manage to get herself arrested at a meeting, but I had nothing to do with that. She is caught on video yelling and disturbing the meeting, repeatedly being asked to leave, and refusing to leave.
“When she persisted in shouting, to the point the meeting could not continue, I called for a recess. During the recess, the former councilmember was escorted out by the Sheriffs, on the Sheriffs' own initiative. I did not have her forcibly detained or removed. She managed to accomplish getting arrested all on her own.”
Snow also denies using racial stereotypes against anyone.
She called Lemon Grove “a small town with limited resources,” and said she has a unique skill set to bring people, groups and organizations together to accomplish common goals and projects and is bringing in “levels of resources that we have not seen before in our community.”
Snow said she also stands by efforts to find solutions to Lemon Grove’s homelessness crisis.