LA City Councilman Mike Bonin Served With Recall Notice

PACIFIC PALISADES, CA — Los Angeles City Councilman Mike Bonin was served with a recall notice at his Mar Vista home Tuesday, the first official step by constituents waging a recall campaign against the second-term councilman whose district runs along the coast from LAX to Pacific Palisades, the Los Angeles Times reported.

A group calling itself Recall Bonin 2021 served the notice, which included signatures from residents in Venice, Brentwood, Westchester and Pacific Palisades. According to its website, the group represents a "grassroots multi-partisan effort" to recall a "self-serving incumbent career politician."

"Under Mike Bonin's watch, the humanitarian crisis of the homeless population is growing exponentially," the group wrote. "Tax payer money is squandered. Fires. Struggling local businesses. Crime is rampant and rising. Neighborhoods and schools are unsafe. We feel afraid to visit public beaches and community parks."

The group would need to collect 27,000 valid signatures within the district for the recall measure to reach the ballot, according to the L.A. Times. The signature collection would start in July and residents would have 120 days to collect the required number.

Bonin has said he will run for a third and final term in the June 2022 election.

Bonin has been front-and-center in the debate about homelessness recently, with many encampments popping up along the beaches in his district. In April, Bonin proposed adding more shelters, including "tiny homes" and "safe camping" sites in areas such as Marina del Rey and Pacific Palisades.

But he was heavily criticized for putting parks and beach parking lots on the list of potential sites for homeless facilities.

The Los Angeles City Council Homelessness & Poverty Committee last month passed Bonin's motion to evaluate site feasibility and identify funding for potential projects at various Westside locations and help fight homelessness.

Later that month, Bonin took to social media to decry rumors that an unhoused person was responsible for setting a Venice fire that killed a family dog and badly damaged a doctor's house.

In a Tuesday statement to the L.A. Times, Bonin called the recall effort "the latest in a series of recall attempts to silence strong progressive voices."

"This recall has been championed and promoted by the same right-wing forces that are trying to erode the democratic process and take down progressive officials around the state," Bonin said.

In 2017, Bonin was the target of an unsuccessful recall campaign launched by residents angry over his decision to reduce the number of traffic lanes on Venice Boulevard in Mar Vista, making room for a bicycle lane.

Just last week, Councilwoman Nithya Raman, who represents neighborhoods from Silver Lake to Sherman Oaks was served with a recall notice by residents in the 4th District. Raman only has been in office for six months, but opponents argued that she was inexperienced, unresponsive and too politically radical for her constituents to endure a full four-year term, according to KTLA.

SEE MORE:

• Bonin Criticizes Sheriff's Department Over Clearing Homeless Camp
• LA County Sheriff Comes To Venice, Moving Into LAPD Territory