Last year’s recall petition against Yucca Valley Town Council members George Huntington and Robert Lombardo incurred additional expenses for the Town, which is responsible for paying the bill for verifying the signatures, counting the ballots, and for legal costs. At last night’s special meeting of the Yucca Valley Town Council, it was time to transfer funds from an undesignated reserve account to pay the bill. Managing editor Tami Roleff was at the meeting, and says the vote was not unanimous…
With a lecture about how the supporters of last year’s recall petition wasted the taxpayers’ money, Mayor Robert Lombardo was the sole vote against approving a transfer of funds to pay the $56,000 unanticipated expense in the current budget. “I think it’s a terrible waste of money to have to pay this for the recall. I know it’s necessary to do—we pay the bills, but I would love to see the recall people have some responsibility. We need to change our laws. We should work on making people that are not successful in lawsuits like this pick up some of the costs because this was unnecessary. There were other ways of handling this. It was inappropriate use of the money.” Charles McHenry, who has said he is running for Town Council in November, scolded the recall proponents during public comment. “It’s a shame that the people who pushed for a recall didn’t have the sense of responsibility to be here themselves for this.” The Council also approved almost $31,000 for a temporary improvement to Black Rock Canyon Road, to pulverize the existing asphalt, followed by grading and compacting. The Council was warned that the road would need to be re-graded every two to three months, and after every rainstorm. Deputy Town Manager Shane Stueckle urged residents along Black Rock Canyon Road to attend the July 15 meeting to find out what road maintenance they will be responsible for. The Town Council then went into closed session and it was announced the Council voted unanimously to initiate litigation, but no indication was given of what the Town will be litigating.
