If You Recall Them, They Will Resign

Carlsbad City Council member facing recall resigns

CARLSBAD —
Carlsbad City Councilwoman Cori Schumacher, whose opponents say they have
enough signatures to place her recall on the ballot, announced her resignation
Friday morning. It was effective immediately.

She ran away. GOOD!

“I have chosen
to attend a university outside the county of San Diego,” Schumacher said in
response to emailed questions about her decision. “It’s an opportunity I simply
cannot refuse. Unfortunately, this means that I am no longer able to continue
my role as council member.”

Schumacher
declined to answer questions about the recall or about her continuing conflicts
with a few vocal residents and conservative elected officials. Instead, she
emphasized the City Council’s accomplishments since she was first elected in
2016, including the launch of a Clean Energy Alliance, the city’s first
lifeguard program, and an expanded homeless response program.

Proponents of
the recall needed about 3,700 signatures to force the election and had
collected more than enough when she resigned, said Carl DeMaio, a former San
Diego City Council member and chairman of the political group Reform California
that launched the effort.

“Today is a big
win for the citizens of Carlsbad and removes a toxic presence from Carlsbad
city government,” DeMaio said in a news release.

“Schumacher and
her special interest political backers had the same polling we had and they
knew they could not survive this recall election, so they smartly opted to
throw in the towel just days before we were expected to submit our signatures,”
he said. “As of our campaign’s last count, our team of grassroots volunteers
had collected nearly 4,500 signatures and we were just gathering extra
signatures for a safety margin.”

One of the
reasons for the recall effort was Schumacher’s decision to file restraining
orders against three Carlsbad residents, one of whom has since moved away, who
frequently criticize her council actions in social media and at public
meetings. A judge dismissed her complaints and order her to pay court costs.

Her critics also
took aim at her efforts to have the city strictly enforce COVID-19 public
safety protocols, which some elected officials said were unnecessarily harming
small businesses. Another criticism was her support for regional efforts to
expand public transportation systems.

“The outcome of
our recall campaign should send a clear message to other local politicians that
they will be held accountable for their misconduct in office and for their
extreme positions on important issues,” DeMaio said.

Schumacher was
elected to a four-year, at-large City Council seat in 2016. She ran
unsuccessfully for mayor in 2018, which was the first year the city held an
election for the newly created council District 1 in which she lives.

Barbara
Hamilton won the District 1 seat, and as a result Schumacher would have been
ineligible to run for re-election in 2020 in the district where she lives.
However, Hamilton resigned early in the first year of her term, and Schumacher
won a special election held to fill the vacancy.

Now, with a
little over one year left in the District 1 term, the council could hold
another special election or appoint someone to the new vacancy.