Mayor Bob Filner’s former allies have called for his resignation all week long. Now, San Diego voters may also spark a movement to recall the embattled mayor.
Local Michael Pallamary says he’s followed Filner's career since he became a city councilmember.
But now, with accusations of sexual harassment surrounding the mayor, Pallamary says the time has come for a recall.
Pallamary is leading the charge to boot Filner out of office through a citizen-signed petition and the “Recall Bob Filner” Facebook page.
The page was created on June 21 – before any local leaders brought the sexual harassment allegations against Filner to light.
Now, Pallamary says there may be enough support from voters to actually make the recall a reality.
As of Sunday morning, the "Recall Bob Filner" page had nearly 1,100 "likes" on Facebook.
Pallamary says he’s been waiting for Filner to give people a reason to vote him out of office, something he believes is crucial to the well-being of the City of San Diego.
“The mayor’s office needs to be sanitized. It needs to be sanitized and scrubbed clean with Lysol. It needs to be made available for a viable, good, hard-working individual – whatever their political background is,” Pallamary told NBC 7.
City code requires signatures from 15 percent of voters, or a little over 100,000 votes in 60 days in order to get a special election.
Pallamary says an extra 30,000 would be needed for uncertified signatures, amounting to 2,600 a day.
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He says the effort could cost at $250,000 and, most importantly, a lot of volunteers.
“Give me your Saturday, give me your Thursday night in front of Vons, give me your Tuesday morning at Wal-Mart. Give me your time,” he added.
Pallamary says he's done it before, successfully leading a recall of city councilmember Linda Bernhardt in 1990 when Filner also sat on the council.
When asked whether they would sign a petition to recall the mayor, San Diegans had mixed reactions.
“I actually voted for him, but I think he’s disappointed a lot of people and can’t rule the city,” local Ellen Beshears told NBC 7.
“Yes, I will, gladly [sign a petition],” said another woman.
“Nothing’s been released about what he’s actually supposedly done so until we get that, it’s really hard to say, ‘You’re fired,’” San Diego resident Tony Wang told NBC 7.
Pallamary argues that a recall is an economical solution using volunteers and a few hundred thousand dollars.
He believes if Mayor Filner resigns, then it will prompt two special elections including a runoff, partisan bickering and will cost taxpayers millions.
