San Diego City Wire

Backers of the move to recall the California governor say the sixth time will be the charm.

That’s the opinion of two of the leaders in the latest recall effort against Gov. Gavin Newsom. After five previous recall campaigns failed to produce enough signatures to force an election, the sixth one has collected more than 1 million names and is on target to reach the nearly 1.5 million signatures required by the March 17 deadline.

“Extremely confident, very confident,” Chief Proponent Orrin Heatlie, a retired sergeant with the Yolo County Sheriff’s Department, told San Diego City Wire. “We will run all the snakes out of the state capital by St. Patrick’s Day.”

Orrin Heatlie | Twitter

This is the second recall effort Heatlie has led. His first one failed but he quickly mounted a second and started gathering signatures on June 10. It needs a minimum of 1,495,709 signatures to force a vote to remove Newsom, a Democrat and former San Francisco mayor and lieutenant governor.

Heatlie had no prior involvement in politics but decided he needed to do this.

“Just that I saw what was going wrong with the state and nobody else was taking any affirmative action,” he said. “I am very familiar with the civil processes and able to file the paperwork to get it started.”

The original signature deadline was Nov. 17, but on Nov. 6, Superior Court Judge James Arguelles extended it until March 17. Recall backers said the COVID-19 pandemic had severely restricted their ability to collect signatures, so they deserved a 120-day extension. Arguelles agreed.

Newsom won in a landslide in 2018, with 61.9% of the vote over Republican businessman John Cox, but many Californians have been unhappy with his performance, which is apparent with the repeated recall efforts.

Critics argue that the governor has mishandled the COVID-19 pandemic. Newsom added fuel to the fire when it was revealed he had dined at the exclusive French Laundry restaurant in Yountville on Nov. 6. Although the governor had been urging people to wear masks and practice social distancing, allegedly no one at the dinner party was doing so.

Newsom apologized but the damage was done, as it convinced people he was espousing one set of rules for most people but ignoring it himself.

Critics say the governor also has pushed unpopular tax increases, failed to deal with a burgeoning homeless population on city streets, supported a controversial sanctuary city policy and rationed water use.

Businessman Mike Netter, who serves on the recall board, said they have a major asset in their campaign.

“Two words: Gavin Newsom,” Netter told San Diego City Wire. “Basically, this started before COVID, and we appeared to have a governor who didn’t want to listen to the will of the people. What’s happening in California is the state has become too one-sided. Anytime a state becomes too one-sided, it doesn’t end well.”

He said Newsom is too extreme for most Californians.

“He makes Jerry Brown look like Ronald Reagan,” Netter said, referencing a pair of former governors. “He’s not a bad person, he’s just a bad manager. I think he’s detached from what the people need.”

Like Heatlie, Netter has no political background.

“Zero,” he said. “I will never run for office. I run for the buffet.”

But he said the California political process is fouled up and in need of reform. Netter is not a fan of the state’s “jungle primary’' system that sends the top two finishers in a primary to the general election no matter their party designation.

He said there is a massive chunk of unaffiliated voters – 6 million registered independents – who are not contacted by the Democratic or Republican parties. They are disconnected from politics and government and their voices are not being heard.

“People aren’t paying attention,” Netter said. “I don’t care if you’re right or left, I’m speaking as a Californian. We can’t have one-party rule. It ends badly.”

The recall petitions must be signed in person; they cannot be collected online. This campaign is using a “powerful marketing strategy,” Netter said, since it has been allowed to gather signatures on letter-size paper. People can print out a petition and gather names, he said.

“Most people don’t have legal-size paper, so they can’t take action on their own,” Netter said. “This is the largest initiative in the history of America. None of us are paid. I’m the No. 2 proponent and I make absolutely nothing.”

There are two paid staffers, however – a consultant and a treasurer.

Netter and Heatlie said the effort is nonpartisan with Republicans, Democrats and independents all signing the petitions. One woman who named her son for Newsom nine years ago has soured on him and is an active supporter of the recall.

“It’s across the whole spectrum,” Netter said. “I literally have lifelong Democrats who voted for Newsom on my team. They’re out of work, they’re hurting, they’re struggling. They see his hypocrisy. They know what’s right and what’s wrong and they want to put an end to this.”

Heatlie said former San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer, who recently signed a petition and endorsed the recall on Twitter on Jan. 2, did not provide any assistance to the campaign.

But Heatlie said Faulconer is welcome aboard the recall train. Faulconer, a Republican whose tenure as San Diego mayor ended in December, has launched an exploratory committee as he looks at running for governor.

“We appreciate everybody’s signature and anybody’s help to promote the recall,” Heatlie said. “Obviously he’s of a like mind and sees the need to get this done.”

He said he doesn’t have an opinion on Faulconer’s qualifications to serve as governor, adding, “Not our job to determine that." 

Netter also didn’t have much to say about Faulconer.

“We endorse nobody for future governor of California,” he said. “I’m glad Kevin sees the light. That’s it. It’s not our job to decide who becomes the next governor. It’s the people’s job. My humble position is we can’t do worse than Gavin Newsom.”

There have been 55 recall efforts aimed at California governors. All but one failed.

In 2003, Democrat Gray Davis was successfully recalled. He became the second American governor, after North Dakota’s Lynn Frazier, who was recalled in 1921, to be removed from office by a public outcry and vote.

In 2003, actor Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Republican, came in first in a field of 135 candidates that included Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante, former child star Gary Coleman, Hustler publisher Larry Flynt and others who landed on the crowded ballot. Schwarzenegger went on to serve the remainder of Davis’ term and won a full term in his own right before returning to acting.