Recall Of Appointed Oceanside Councilwoman Going Forward

OCEANSIDE, CA — The appointment of Kori Jensen to the Oceanside City Council in January continues to spark controversy. Jensen was served a recall notice during an April City Council meeting. The group leading the District 1 recall effort, 'Let Oceanside Vote', released this statement:

Let Oceanside Vote, a grassroots movement in Oceanside is gaining ground in the effort to collect 4500 signatures in order to give District 1 voters an opportunity to vote on who will represent them on the Oceanside City Council.

Let Oceanside Vote supporters will attend the Recall Jensen Rally from 12 noon to 1 PM on Saturday, June 5th near the Fountain Plaza at the intersection of Pier View Way and Coast Highway. The purpose of the rally is to inform District 1 voters of the reasons for the petition to recall appointed Councilmember Kori Jensen, and to gather signatures. The recall effort is to allow voters to make their own choice for District 1 City Council. Organizers ask that everyone bring more of their creative home-made signs and wear masks.

Proponents of the recall cite several reasons for the recall campaign to remove appointed City Councilmember Kori Jensen:

· Jensen is unknown in District 1 and has not been an active contributor in the community.

· Her actions have raised issues of trust and transparency. She raised doubt among District 1
constituents by swearing to a bankruptcy judge last year that her Carlsbad property is now her primary residence, and has not provided evidence supporting her claims of living in the District.

· Jensen owes over $51,000 in delinquent Oceanside property taxes. Most residents pay their taxes, and they expect their city council members to pay theirs, too. This hurts Oceanside
residents!

· District 1 voters want an election. When the vacancy occurred, residents spoke up and asked for an election to allow voters to get information and vet the candidates so as to choose the one who best represents them. Instead, three of four councilmembers, who don't live in the district,
appointed Kori Jensen with no public input and no vetting.

· Jensen’s first action after being appointed was to vote in support of de-funding and effectively closing the Brooks Street Swim Center, showing that she doesn’t know or support
the community in District 1. Local residents from underserved communities of color are among those who currently use the pool for swimming lessons during the summer, of which over 100 lessons are donated by local businesses. While signing the petition, many District 1 voters stated, “If she knew this district as she claims to, she’d never have voted to close this pool.”

The Let Oceanside Vote website (letoceansidevote.org) lists locations where District 1 voters can sign the petition, if they are not visited by our Oceanside volunteers who are going door-to-door in our community.

The 'Let Oceanside Vote' group is led by local resident Cindy Davenport, "Her (Jensen's) limited responses have not passed the “smell test” while we are waiting for the District Attorney’s investigation, but there is lots of evidence which shows she doesn’t live in District 1." said Davenport, "Grassroots volunteers with Let Oceanside Vote put Measure L on the ballot and 67% of Oceansiders voted no, overwhelmingly defeating the change of agricultural zoning to development for North River Farms."

The group believes they can succeed in this new effort to recall Jensen as they did with Measure L and are actively working to collect the 4,484 signatures needed by September 10th to get the issue onto a ballot. If they succeed and turn in enough signatures, the county registrar of voters has 30 days to verify the signatures. Upon verification, the Oceanside City Council will have 14 days to meet and call a special election.

Let Oceanside Vote volunteers are collecting signatures at various locations throughout District 1 including the Farmer's Market on Thursdays.

The Patch reached out to Councilwoman Kori Jensen but she did not respond to a request for comment. In reports by the San Diego Union-Tribune and other media outlets, Jensen claimed that the recall effort is partisan politics in Oceanside.

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