Facing a recall during the Nov. 5 election, Grover Beach City Councilmember Daniel Rushing received support from some community members during the July 22 meeting.
“Daniel Rushing has served on City Council since being appointed in 2021 and then ran for reelection in 2022. He has been a 20-year involved resident, parent, and husband, and brings marketing and sales knowledge and nonprofit experience to our council along with intelligence, strong listening skills, and a cooperative attitude,” resident Nancy Allison said during public comment.
Rushing’s recall came after a Dec. 11, 2023, council meeting where he, Mayor Karen Bright, and Councilmember Zach Zimmerman voted to raise water rates by almost 20 percent over the next four years to help fund the city’s portion of the Central Coast Blue water recycling project. That vote upset Grover Beach residents who didn’t support the project and decided to form Grover H2O to combat it.
Grover H2O member Lesley Mar served Bright, Zimmerman, and Rushing with an intent to recall them during a Jan. 8 council meeting. Due to multiple city rejections of the petitions, the deadline passed to recall Mayor Bright and councilmember Zimmerman, whose seats are up for election in November, leaving only Rushing to face a recall.
Grover Beach resident Steve Liberman told the council on July 22 that he believes the recall is a personal attack because the issues that drove Grover H2O to initiate the recalls have been resolved.
“You agreed to take on big issues so we would not have to; thank you for that. Central Coast Blue was a well-intended project with runaway costs. You did the right thing and backed out of it. Utility rates that were increased to fund the project have been reduced. You did the right thing, thank you for that,” he said. “This is a personal attack on all of us. Here’s some truth: Grover Beach is the only city in our county with term limits for our council members, and one of two for term limits for our mayor. We already ensure a regular change in representative leadership.”
In April, council members decided to pull out of the Central Coast Blue agreement and, in May, they voted to revert water rates to what they had been.
One Grover H2O member responded to Liberman’s comment and said that the recall wasn’t a personal attack—it was simply a function of community engagement.
“Recalls are something that’s available to the community as a tool to use when a council isn’t meeting the interest of the general public,” he said. “When the water issue was voted on, it was a record number of protesters that came to this city. More than they’ve ever seen. … Each council member had the opportunity to see what the people of the community wanted, and three council members chose to ignore that, and that’s what the recall is representing.”
Liberman said he feels like the group has gone too far, and he’s forming a campaign committee called Grover Forward.
“I’m going to defend our community from this attack on Councilmember Rushing, which is an attack against all of us,” he said. “We are all citizens of Grover Beach. I love this community; I’ve done a lot for this community, and I will not let the misguided acts of a few disrupt our city without a fight.”
The city will call for a special municipal election for the voters in Rushing’s district to be held on same day as the general election, Nov. 5.
“This consolidation aims to ensure efficiency and cost-effectiveness in the administration of the election,” the July 22 staff report states.
The ballot will present the question: “Shall Daniel Rushing be recalled (removed) from the office of council member of District 2 of the city of Grover Beach.” Voters will have the option to vote “yes” or “no.” A majority vote of 50 percent plus 1 will be required to recall Rushing.
During the July 22 meeting, SLO County 3rd District Supervisor Dawn Ortiz-Legg spoke during public comment in support of Rushing.
“I always look at Grover Beach as such a beacon of progress, a beacon of civility, and really just a bunch of cool, great people coming together, and it really disturbs me that this is happening tonight in regard to going ahead with the recall,” she said. “Being in [a] leadership role requires us to have thick skin, requires us to make tough decisions, requires us to be able to put our head down on the pillow at night and feel good about what we did.
“But what it doesn’t require us to do is to be insulted and to be taken in such a term where you’re less than treated in an honorable manner.”
This article appears in Jul 25 – Aug 4, 2024.