Mike Groethe – press contact Phone: (650) 965-8523

MOUNTAIN VIEW VICE-MAYOR MAKES HISTORY BY BEING FIRST COUNCILPERSON EVER TO FACE A RECALL

Mountain View, CA – Mountain View vice-mayor Sally Lieber was recently served with a notice of intention to circulate a recall petition in order to remove her from office. According to information posted at the website www.recallsallylieber.org the partial list of facts supporting this recall are as follows:

1. Flagrantly jeopardized the non-profit status of the YWCA by handing out campaign literature at a YWCA event. Her misconduct was compounded when she refused to cease her actions when asked repeatedly by YWCA officials.
2. Surreptitiously sought to undermine the city’s commitment to open space by publicly misrepresenting the positions of Mountain View residents in favor of saving open space.
3. Violated Section 1003 of the Mountain View City Charter which prohibits political activities while on duty. Ms. Lieber contacted the President of the Mountain View Firefighters while on duty and persistently attempted to acquire the endorsement of the Firefighters Union for her current Assembly bid.
4. Has failed the requirements of her office to honor the due process of law.
5. Willfully created and sustained a climate of suspicion, fear, intimidation, and embarrassment in the city of Mountain View and to its employees.

Since then, there have been a number of additional issues that have arisen to further fuel the recall efforts.

Per recall policy, the vice-mayor had 7 days to respond after being served with the intent to recall. According to Mike Groethe, chairperson of the Recall Committee, "The vice-mayor responded in a letter and completely avoided the facts we presented to her." Groethe states, "Instead she attempted to cite a short list of her accomplishments while in office. We immediately noticed some of the information on the list had been falsely manipulated for her political gain." In her letter the vice-mayor scribed, "I’m proud that through my leadership on our City Council we have…started a firefighter-paramedic program…" Groethe clarified, "The reality is the firefighter-paramedic program was established and paramedics were hired in 1998. The vice-mayor’s first term on council didn’t begin until 1999. How she can attempt to take credit for the enormous amount of work done by community members, local corporations and the city council at that time is beyond me. Not only did she completely avoid the damaging facts we presented to her, she once again attempted to mislead this community by giving less than truthful information."

On November 27^th, the vice-mayor was asked to step down from her council position by attorney Alan Davis for "breaking the law" by "violating Mountain View’s city charter." "It’s incredible that city management has taken no action against Lieber," cited Catherine Knipe, of the Recall Committee, "She appears immune to the consequences of her dishonest behavior. The city isn’t holding the vice-mayor accountable. It just doesn’t make sense. We haven’t been able to count on city management for justice. Our only option is to move forward with a recall." Proof of her violation was presented to the city 6 months ago and a more detailed list of serious problems was presented last month.

The next step in the recall process is to acquire the needed 6700 signatures to place Ms. Lieber’s councilmember position in the hands of the voters during a special election to be held this year.

Traditionally, the vice-mayor is next in line for the mayor’s position. A vote by the city council members on January 8^th will decide who is going to fill that seat for 2002.

Currently, there is a large community movement in motion to prevent Ms. Lieber from being appointed to the mayor’s post.

According to the committee, "We don’t want her representing us or our city. We want someone who will act ethically and with integrity. Based on her actions, the vice-mayor does not fit that description."

Ms. Lieber is the first recorded councilperson to face a recall in Mountain View history.

Additional fact sheets, Q&A, video clips and articles can be found at www.recallsallylieber.org or call Mike Groethe at the above phone number.