Signatures turned in to seek recall of one Temecula school board member – Press Enterprise

“Recall All 3” is now recall just one.

The political action committee hoping to oust the Temecula school board’s conservative majority turned in signatures to the Riverside County elections office Wednesday, Dec. 6, in hopes of forcing a recall election of board President Joseph Komrosky.

Organizers did not submit signatures seeking to remove board members Danny Gonzalez and Jen Wiersma, who also were targets of the recall effort. Gonzalez, Komrosky and Wiersma did not immediately respond Wednesday afternoon to requests for comment.

If elections officials verify enough signatures from registered voters in Komrosky’s district, voters would be asked sometime next year whether or not to keep Komrosky in office.

If a recall election is held, Komrosky’s fate would be decided by voters in his district — Trustee Area 4 — which is north of Temecula Parkway and south of Glen Oaks Road in Temecula.

A Komrosky recall would be estimated to cost about $75,000, according to the Registrar of Voters. Because of the time needed to verify signatures and call an election, it’s unlikely a recall would take place the same time as California’s March 5, 2024, primary.

One Temecula Valley PAC co-founder Jeff Pack said roughly 5,200 signatures were turned in. To schedule a recall election, 4,280 are required.

Using social media, tables outside supermarkets and in parks, door knocking and truck-mounted advertising, the recall campaign, using the slogan “Recall All 3,” targeted Komrosky and fellow conservatives Gonzalez and Wiersma.

In the end, only signatures for Komrosky were submitted. Pack, who declined to say how many signatures were gathered for Gonzalez and Wiersma, said the recall campaign reacted to data and voter enthusiasm in focusing its efforts on Komrosky.

“Right off the bat, we realized that there was a lot of energy to recall him for a multitude of reasons,” Pack said.

“The first day, we had to get 35 signatures for a notice of intent (to recall) and we had 35 signatures for him in about 35 minutes.”

The board president has become a lightning rod for calling slain LGBTQ civil rights leader Harvey Milk a “pedophile” and his clashes with audience members, whom he kicks out of meetings using a soccer-style yellow card/red card system.

Pack said he’s “not disappointed at all” in not getting enough signatures to get recalls of Gonzalez and Wiersma on the ballot. “We knew all along that we were probably gonna get one, maybe two,” he said.

Gathering enough signatures to try to recall just one board member is “great,” Pack said. “Two would be better. Three would be pretty much a miracle.”

The recall campaign marks the first formal counterstrike in a war that started last year, when Gonzalez, Komrosky and Wiersma announced plans to run for school board.

Backed by the Christian conservative Inland Empire Family PAC, the trio won seats in November 2022, along with two others who are now school board members in Murrieta and Lake Elsinore.

The first night they took office, Gonzalez, Komrosky and Wiersma banned the teaching of critical race theory on the grounds that it’s divisive and teaches students to be victims. Temecula high school students walked out on two occasions to protest the ban, accusing board conservatives of trying to censor the truth about U.S. history.

The board majority also rejected an elementary social studies curriculum with an indirect reference to Milk.

That prompted a social media rebuke by Gov. Gavin Newsom, who threatened to send textbooks to Temecula and fine the school district if the curriculum wasn’t adopted. The board eventually adopted it.

Other controversial actions by the board majority include passing a policy that requires parents to be told if their child is transgender. LGBTQ advocates said the policy threatens students whose parents don’t accept their sexual identity.

Komrosky, citing the potential public health threat from transmissions, and his fellow conservatives also banned new on-campus cell phone towers, riling critics who see the ban as rooted in pseudoscience.

Critics also denounced what they see as a lack of transparency and good government in the hiring of a new superintendent, whose predecessor got a $362,000 severance package after being fired without cause.

One Temecula Valley PAC, which bills itself as against political extremism in local government, formally launched its recall bid in August.

Organizers had 120 days to gather roughly 12,000 signatures to recall Gonzalez, Komrosky and Wiersma. They faced pushback from the majority’s supporters, who said the trio was keeping its promises to restore parental rights and keep political indoctrination and obscenity out of the classroom.

With signatures submitted, Pack said recall supporters will now focus on getting out the vote and talking to potential Komrosky replacements. If Komrosky is recalled, he would leave office immediately and the remaining board members could call for a special election or appoint someone to fill the vacant seat.

“Fortunately, we have over 5,000 people that have shown an interest in voting to recall this person,” Pack said. “If we just get the people that signed the recall to vote, then we’re gonna be successful.”