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79% of Tulare County Newsom Recall Signatures Are Valid
David Taub Website photo 2024
By David Taub, Senior Reporter
Published 4 years ago on
April 9, 2021

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Tulare County has finished the first round processing of signatures collected to recall Gov. Gavin Newsom.

The county received 36,298, verifying 79% as valid.

Photo of GV Wire's David Taub

David Taub

Politics 101

“Our county has completed all first level verifications and is in the process of conducting a second level review on challenged signatures in accordance with California’s Signature Verification, Ballot Processing, and Ballot Counting (Emergency Regulation),” the Tulare County election office said.

Final certification of the signatures to the Secretary of State is expected by the due date of April 19. The SOS then has 10 days to review all the 58 county numbers.

Proponents need valid 1.4 million signatures statewide. The SOS is scheduled for an update on April 19.

The next step would be to start a 30 business day clock for petition signers to change their minds.


Also in Politics 101: 

  • Gavin’s Law Tries Again
  • No attorney fees owed in Measure P case.
  • River board reacts to new legislation.
  • New job for former Fresno city manager.

Gavin’s Law Passes First Checkpoint of Second Attempt

Assemblyman Jim Patterson is trying again to increase penalties for hit and run drivers.

Named for Gavin Gladding, a Clovis Unified principal killed in a hit-and-run accident while out for a jog, would increase the maximum penalty from four years to six.

Last year, “Gavin’s Law” passed the assembly, but failed in the Senate Public Safety committee. Patterson, R-Fresno, reintroduced his bill as AB 582.

On Tuesday, it passed the Assembly Public Safety committee, and next heads to the appropriations committee.

Mike Osegueda — promoter of the popular Fresno Street Eats events — testified in favor. His sister Courtney died in a hit-and-run accident in Oakland.

No Attorney Fees in Measure P Case

When the state Supreme Court declined to hear the Measure P case, it left an appeal court ruling in place that the Fresno tax measure for parks passed.

City voters favored Measure P in 2018 with 52% support. At the time, it was interpreted that it did not pass because it did not receive two-thirds. Advocacy group Fresno Building Health Communities sued, and eventually won.

But, there was one question left to answer — who would be responsible for attorney fees? Would it be the city, which technically was the other party but did not put up a case? Or would it be the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, which intervened on behalf of the city?

“We entered into an agreement at the start that no one would seek attorney fees,” HJTA attorney Tim Bittle said.

The 3/8 of a cent sales tax will start July 1.

River Board on Possible Change

The San Joaquin River Conservancy Board briefly discussed proposed legislation that would change the makeup of the governing agency.

Assemblyman Joaquin Arambula, D-Fresno, introduced AB 559 which would expand the board by two members to 17, and change some of the requirements for picking local members.

Brett Frazier, a member of the board representing the Madera County Board of Supervisors, questioned the logic of adding more members.

“We’re waiting 15 minutes for one person to show up so that we can have a quorum… My thoughts are just keep it simpler and then we can move forward,” Frazier said.

Frazier was more amenable to lifting a residency requirement for one board position of having to live on the river bottom. Madera County has had trouble in the past filling its nomination for a citizen representative.

Mike Karbassi, chairman of the board representing the Fresno City Council, commented about the governor picking the new positions.

“I’m very concerned about losing local control because we’ve made so much progress, at least for me, ensuring that we can have more residents be able to utilize the river. And I want us not to forget that,” Karbassi said.

Arambula’s bill passed the Assembly Natural Resources Committee on March 24 and heads to the Governmental Organization committee. No date has been set for the next hearing.

Quan’s New Job

Wilma Quan

Wilma Quan, the former city manager of Fresno, was hired in a similar role in Fowler.

Her first day was March 1 after city council approval on Feb. 16 with a 5-0 vote.

Quan was not retained by incoming Mayor Jerry Dyer, who picked Thomas Esqueda as his city manager. She also applied for a management job with Fresno County but was not selected.

Fowler will pay Quan $157,107 base salary a year, plus benefits.

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David Taub,
Senior Reporter
Curiosity drives David Taub. The award-winning journalist might be shy, but feels mighty with a recorder in his hand. He doesn't see it his job to "hold public officials accountable," but does see it to provide readers (and voters) the information needed to make intelligent choices. Taub has been honored with several writing awards from the California News Publishers Association. He's just happy to have his stories read. Joining GV Wire in 2016, Taub covers politics, government and elections, mainly in the Fresno/Clovis area. He also writes columns about local eateries (Appetite for Fresno), pro wrestling (Off the Bottom Rope), and media (Media Man). Prior to joining the online news source, Taub worked as a radio producer for KMJ and PowerTalk 96.7 in Fresno. He also worked as an assignment editor for KCOY-TV in Santa Maria, California, and KSEE-TV in Fresno. He has also worked behind the scenes for several sports broadcasts, including the NCAA basketball tournament, and the Super Bowl. When not spending time with his family, Taub loves to officially score Fresno Grizzlies games. Growing up in the San Francisco Bay Area, Taub is a die-hard Giants and 49ers fan. He graduated from the University of Michigan with dual degrees in communications and political science. Go Blue! You can contact David at 559-492-4037 or at Send an Email

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