Oakland Group Drops Out Of Campaign To Recall Mayor Quan
OAKLAND (KCBS) - One of the groups trying to recall Oakland Mayor Jean Quan has suspended its signature gathering effort, even as another group presses forward with its own recall petition.
The Recall and Restore Campaign needed to submit 20,000 signatures by May 14 to put its recall measure before voters, a goal organizer Charles Pine said could not be met unless paid signature gatherers canvassed the city.
KCBS' Holly Quan Reports:
"No one wants to start something in order to suspend it," Pine said. "This is the reality we face."
The group behind a second recall petition has a later July 2 deadline, and has reportedly been raising money to pay signature gatherers.
"Any successful campaign is going to need paid canvassers," Pine said, adding that many voters who did sign wound up putting their names on both petitions - despite some differences between the two groups.
"There were some events where, at the same table, we had our petition and people who had the other petition were there. And people were quite happy to sign both."
A spokeswoman for Mayor Jean Quan chose not to comment on the development saying the mayor would rather focus on the city business.
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