Downey councilmember Catherine Alvarez served recall papers (UPDATED)
Councilmember Catherine Alvarez at Tuesday’s City Council meeting. (Photo by Alex Dominguez)
DOWNEY — Councilwoman Catherine Alvarez may soon find herself facing a recall election, after residents of District 3 served her with a notice of intent to recall at Tuesday’s city council meeting.
Much of the discontent with the embattled councilwoman stems from her criminal history.
Alvarez was previously convicted of felony charges in 2014 for welfare fraud and lying under oath, and misdemeanor petty theft for stealing from the Michael’s store at Downey Landing.
During the meeting’s public comment period, several community members focused their comments on these crimes, upset that they had not been disclosed prior to Alvarez being elected to the seat.
One resident – who ultimately was the individual to serve Alvarez - said voters “would not have voted” for Alvarez had they known about her prior convictions.
The resident did not provide her name before addressing the council.
“[Alvarez] lacks the ethics and moral compass to serve us all,” she said. “She deceived our residents and our city.”
Another resident said that, “What Catherine Alvarez did to our voters was shameful and deceptive.”
“She robbed legitimate people who need welfare of their money. She said she’s ‘for the people,’ yet she stole people’s money, especially those who need it the most. Then she deceived the voters about this information,” said Dorothy Pemberton. “She stole from a Downey business, and she is banned permanently. There’s no excuse for stealing. This is shameful, and she should have disclosed this to the residents of District 3.”
“She didn’t because she knew they would not elect her. Having warrants for her arrest shows lack of responsibility also. She’s a complete fraud and we deserve better.”
She also added that the council member was “unfit to oversee a city budget of over $240 million,” citing instances of public record in which Alvarez was evicted for owing “Downey landlords over $7,000,” and “filing bankruptcy to avoid paying what the court said she owed.”
“[Alvarez] is financially irresponsible to run her own personal life, she is certainly not skilled or able to watch over our city budget,” she said. “Her prior history shows she is not capable of holding this position. There’s too much at risk for us residents to have a councilperson who has cheated the system, to be involved with any financial matters of our city.”
There was some immediate confusion over whether the councilwoman could be served at the dais during the course of the meeting.
According to the City Clerk, the city had not made a determination if the service was valid or not, as the proponents had not yet filed with the city. According to Vijay Patel, one of the individuals spearheading the effort, filing is anticipated to happen within the week.
The recall effort will need to collect petition signatures equaling 20% of voters in District 3 within 120 days of receiving approval of the petition by the elections official. According to information on the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder website, there were 15,649 registered voters in District 3 as of 2017.
According to those numbers, that means around 3,130 signatures would be needed to take the matter to a ballot.
Should the recall be successful, the city charter states that the election of an eligible candidate to fill the vacancy shall occur after the recall election, and shall be voted on by voters within the district.
The following day, Alvarez responded to the movement on her personal Facebook account, saying:
“Apparently Republican Trumpsters don't like me very much! It is a shame how democracy has become in this city! Self-interest is worth more, It's a shame. Those behind my removal are apartments owners and Republicans themselves. What can we expect if they have a leader here who has bullied me before taking office.”