Petition To Recall Stockton Mayor Michael Tubbs Hits Streets

A petition to recall Stockton Mayor Michael Tubbs has finally won approval.

Tubbs was voted in last year with 70 percent of the vote and, at 26, became the youngest elected mayor of a larger U.S. city. He is also Stockton’s first black mayor.

The petition lists wasteful spending, neglect of basic services such as parks and disregard for the homeless community as reasons he should leave City Hall.

Leading the charge is Brenda Vasquez, who also accused Tubbs of cronyism. “There has been an increase in the mayor’s office of 445 percent, to over half-a-million dollars, in the creating of positions for friends of his that he’s brought in,” she said.

Tubbs dismissed the effort. “The power to remove an individual from office is reserved for the greatest betrayals of public trust, not just because you disagree with someone,” he wrote in response to the petition.

The city clerk finally approved the recall petition after two failed attempts. Proponents have 160 days to collect 16,000 valid signatures to force a recall.

Stockton estimates the cost of the vote, if added to a general election, would run $200,000. But a special election would cost $800,000.