Auburn Journal: Citizen group seeks trustees' recall

By: Loryll Nicolaisen, Journal Staff Writer
Tuesday, May 30, 2006 11:41 PM PDT

Rex Bloomfield, former Placer County supervisor, is among a group of 10 people who signed a notice of intention to seek a recall of Sierra College board president Jerry Simmons and trustee Aaron Klein.

Bloomfield and other recall supporters filed paperwork with the Placer County clerk's office Tuesday morning.

The group says the recall is necessary because of Klein and Simmons' treatment of then-President Kevin Ramirez, which led to his $600,000-plus contract buyout and early retirement.

"This is about an abuse of power," Bloomfield said.

Paperwork filed with the county and sent to Klein says that after the trustee's "public attacks, Sierra College's enrollment fell; the college lost a distinguished administrator; and the Sierra College Foundation lost donations."
"Aaron Klein behaved in a reckless manner, made irresponsible and absurd claims, destroyed the career of a dedicated public servant, and damaged the reputation of Sierra College," the petition reads.

The "Notice of Intention to Circulate Recall Petition" says the push to recall Simmons is due to his "irresponsible and unethical behavior" during his tenure as Sierra College board president and "abusive micro-management" as a trustee.

"During his tenure on the Sierra College board, Jerry Simmons harmed the college by his irresponsible and unethical behavior..." the notice reads. "As a board member, Jerry Simmons repeatedly overstepped his bounds by directing administrators to silence his critics and threatening staff with their jobs if they continued to question his activities. This abusive micro-management is not only unethical but violates the rights guaranteed to all citizens in our Constitution. Simmons' bullying tactics first disheartened the staff but now has unified them in opposition to his inappropriate conduct."

Klein said the recall attempt is a "highly coordinated attack designed to affect Tuesday's election" and that voters will see right through it.

"The proponents of this recall are a collection of Robert Weygandt cronies, led by Placer County's very own 'Howard Dean' ultra-liberal, Rex Bloomfield, who was repudiated and driven from office by the voters just two years ago," Klein said in a written statement Tuesday.

Simmons accused political opponent Robert Weygandt of playing dirty.

"This recall attempt is being launched by Robert Weygandt's liberal political allies just seven days before election day in an attempt to distract voters from Weygandt's record of making it easier to raise taxes, his failure to require developers to pay for traffic mitigation before he voted for new housing units, and his support of taking away private property for commercial use through eminent domain," Simmons said in a written statement Tuesday. "Community leaders told me before I filed for this election that Robert Weygandt would play dirty, but I had no idea just how low he could sink."

Recall supporters now have the task of collecting some 26,000 signatures-10 percent of the voting population within the Sierra Joint Community College District-from registered voters within Placer, Sacramento, Nevada and El Dorado counties.

"I believe in order to ensure that Sierra College returns to its distinguished reputation, both Simmons and Klein need to be removed," Bloomfield said.

Rocklin Mayor George Magnuson, Lincoln Planning Commissioner Allen Cuenca, former Auburn Mayor Cheryl Maki, former Roseville Mayor Mel Hamel, Republican Central Committee member Laura Hancock and Shirley Russell, a retired teacher and former Sierra College student body president, are among the group of signers.

"I just think they need a change of leadership over there," Magnuson said Tuesday. "I'm very concerned about which way the college is going. There seems to be a big morale problem that wasn't there before Mr. Simmons and Mr. Klein were elected. It wasn't an easy decision to come to but it's something that needs to be addressed by the taxpayers and voters in the Sierra College district."

Harriet White, a former Placer County supervisor whose signature also appears on recall papers, said it's time for a change.

"I signed on to this to support the people in the Sierra College district because I think we need a replacement for people like Klein and Simmons, who have pulled the antics they've done on the board," she said. "This will be good for the district, it will be good for the Sierra College board and it will be good for the District 2 supervisor's race, to see just what kind of person Simmons is."

Supporters of both Klein and Simmons call the recall effort a reprehensible campaign tactic.

"I think that is just about the lowest form of political campaigning I can imagine, to call for a recall election just a few days before the primary election," Assemblyman Tim Leslie said Tuesday morning. Leslie's son, Scott Leslie, is a Sierra College trustee who has supported Klein and Simmons during the recent turmoil.

Dean Forman, Placer County Republican Party chairman, rallied for support of both trustees.

"These unfounded, politically motivated accusations are an abuse of the recall process - the recall process was not created to carry out personal vendettas," he said in a press release Tuesday.

Anthony Maki Gill, Sierra College classified senate president, accompanied former supervisors Bloomfield and White to the county clerk's office Tuesday morning.

"I'm not one of the organizers, but I will be one of the signers," he said. "The continued damage that both Klein and Simmons are doing to Sierra College, the credit they continue to take for our hardworking students and staff, their attack politics are no good for our institution and they're certainly no good for our community."

The Journal's Loryll Nicolaisen can be reached at lorylln@goldcountrymedia.com.