Yorba Linda voters will decide Tuesday if Mayor Craig Young and Councilman Tom Lindsey remain in office in the city’s first recall election.
Petitioners began gathering signatures when Young, Lindsey and Councilman Gene Hernandez voted against Councilman John Anderson’s motion for a moratorium on a controversial high-density housing development on Lakeview Avenue.
Opponents say Lindsey and Young are pro-developer, pointing to $16,000 in campaign support the two received from a political action committee made up mostly of developers.
Flyers praising Young and Lindsey’s “conservative leadership” were circulated throughout the city in May in response to recall efforts. The Southern California Coalition of Businesses and Taxpayers paid for them, according to campaign disclosure statements.
Residents supporting the recall say the Business and Taxpayers Coalition’s political action committee, formed in March for independent expenditures, is a way for developers to pump money into Lindsey’s and Young’s campaigns this fall.
The Business and Taxpayers Coalition political action committee received $13,000 in April from Beverly Hills-based El-Yorba Linda. Afshin Etebar, listed as an agent for the company, is the owner of ETCO Homes, developer of the 159-unit Lakeview Avenue project.
The coalition also received $13,000 from Prospect Place LLC, developer of the Tesoro Town Home project approved on the west side of town.
During a May 20 city council meeting, both Lindsey and Young denied any knowledge of the flyers prior to circulation or of Reggie King, a Rancho Cucamonga-based developer who contributed more than $45,000 to the PAC.
Investigations of ethics complaints filed against Young and Hernandez by their detractors found no basis for a violation.
The results of Tuesday’s recall election will be posted on the county Registrar of Voters website, ocvote.com