“I will step down,” Bejarano said. “No need for an election. I will walk away.”
Game on according to local businessman Greg Tuttle, who served the recall intention notices on Bejarano and councilwomen Marlen Garcia and Monica Garcia Wednesday.
Even while Bejarano scoffed at the recall — calling it a blip on the radar — Tuttle remained hopeful he could get an election going as early as a year from now.

Experts say a recall election could easily run in the tens of thousands of dollars, and maybe even upwards of $100,000.
“It’s very hard,” said Douglas Johnson, a fellow with the Rose Institute of State and Local Government. “Very few recalls ever make it to the ballot. It takes money and it takes a lot of lawyers.”
Johnson estimated less than a quarter of recalls that start actually end up on the ballot.

Several of Baldwin Park’s recall proponents are members of the Community Alliance for Redevelopment Accountability, which is opposed to the city’s proposed downtown project.
CARA has received heavy support — including financial support — from some major statewide groups backing eminent domain reform.
But Tuttle has made it clear that the recall has nothing to do with CARA.
“This is something separate, from us the voters,” Tuttle said.
He doesn’t leave in Baldwin Park, so … he’s not a voter.

But Tuttle said he’s taking things one step at a time and he expects to file official recall paperwork with the City Clerk’s office today.
After, he said, he will file for a political action committee, so that the proponents’ major donors can start funneling in dollars for the recall effort.
It’ll be interesting to see who their backers are.

Until then, Bejarano said he’s not too concerned.
Tuttle said he has retained an attorney to help move the recall process along, though Bejarano said he can’t tell from the notices served Wednesday.
Here’s one of the grievances listed as a grounds for recall:
“Anthony Bejarano is more concerned about eating sushi at restaurants than taking care of the city and problems of day laborers and public safety.”
Mayor Manuel Lozano said he’s ready for the fight.
As for the Garcias? (Who are not related.) Marlen Garcia did not want to comment, saying she didn’t want to add “fuel to the fire,” and Monica Garcia didn’t call back.
*****
Rosemead just approved nearly $80,000 to start broadcasting its council meetings online. Glendora started live streaming its meetings nearly three months ago, and El Monte has been doing it for nearly three years.
Officials from each city said that broadcasting the meetings helps promote transparency in government.
“It’s not cheap,” El Monte spokesman Matt Weintraub said. “But it is an absolutely fantastic way for residents to monitor what is going on in the city.”

Well, maybe that explains why some West Covina residents are upset after hearing that their city council members are looking to save a few bucks by halting the broadcasts of their meetings on TV and online.
The total savings: $150,000.
Several residents expressed concern that this was an attempt by the city to try to prevent its residents from knowing what’s going on.
City officials deny that’s the motive. It has more to do with a $2 million budget deficit, they said.