Two On Council Threatened With Recall

Two city residents announced their plans Tuesday to try to unseat council members Armando Gomez and Althea Polanski. 

Linda Windisch and Dan Manassau, both of Milpitas, gave City Council the 20 signatures per candidate required by state law to move ahead with the recall. Now they need to gather signatures from 20 percent of Milpitas’ registered voters — or about 5,000 residents — within 120 days to place the recalls on the November ballot.

Both Gomez and Polanski end their terms in 2014.

Windisch, who is leading the campaign to recall Polanski, said she is doing so because “it’s clear that she’s not longer committed to the voters.”

Windisch and Manassau said they are concerned about Polanski and Gomez’s potential support of medical marijuana dispensaries, among other issues.

Mayor Jose Esteves voiced his support for both council members.

“I always support council members who think independently,” Esteves said.

After the meeting, Gomez said he suspects the recall might have more to do with his and Polanski’s votes earlier this year supporting a moratorium to stop converting land zoned for business within Milpitas into residential areas. Developers hoping to build homes on the land did not agree with that decision.

“There are no coincidences in politics,” Gomez said.