Santee Mayor & Council Ask Nathan Fletcher to Step Down

Santee Mayor John W. Minto and the City Council recently voted to ask Supervisor Nathan Fletcher to step down as Chair Supervisor and apologize for “divisive language” he used about some of those participating in the Governor Gavin Newsom recall effort.

Fletcher did not apologize, but hypocritically attacked the Santee mayor and its council members for discussing "political issues" during "tax-payer funded meetings".

Here are statements from Fletcher during a "tax-payer funded meeting" with other California democrats where they discussed the Newsom recall efforts, and painted the participants as racists:

..."these same extremists, these same Trump-inspired conspiracy theorists, are now seeking to undermine our democracy in California. They're involved in recall elections against our governor, Gavin Newsom. The recall efforts led by pro-Trump extremists seek to undermine the democratic process across our state."

“There is substantial evidence that those who are leading this recall effort are linked and associated with neo-Nazi, with white supremacists, with right-wing militia groups, and we cannot stand for this..."

Supervisor Fletcher responded with a letter that said, “I never once made any statements about all people involved in the recall efforts of Governor Newsom. I suspect you know this and yet you continue to promote a lie. My comments said that some elements of the recall movement are tied to various right wing groups. I stated,”… these same extremists. They are involved in recall elections against our Gov. Gavin Newsom.”

In his response letter, Fletcher also attacked former San Diego mayor Kevin Faulconer, when he said, “If you contrast [Newsom] that with Kevin Faulconer, who half-assed his way through his term in office, setting low expectations, cutting them in half, and then delaying it for his successor, you have a clear contrast in leadership.”

Minto has publicly stated, "Hateful rhetoric has no room in political discourse and is particularly bad when it comes from the Chairman of the San Diego County Board of Supervisors. Whether or not you agree with the recall effort, the right to recall elected officials is guaranteed in our California Constitution and is a part of our democratic process."

The recall effort has reportedly already collected the needed 1.5 million signatures, and leaders of this effort vow to collect hundreds of thousands more, thus a recall appears to be imminent regardless of local leader's opinions.