California: Two Vernon councilmembers survive recall vote

Two Vernon City Councilmembers William Davis (13-54) and Melissa Ybarra (15-53) survived their recall vote on September 14.

Verrnon City Councilmembers Diana Gonzales (56-23) and Carol Menke (59-20) were ousted in a June 1 recall, with Gonzales replaced by Judith Merlo and Menke replaced by Crystal Larios.

Davis and Ybarra, who are seen as political opponents of the two ousted officials, are scheduled for a September 14 recall. 

The recall effort was over support for a solar and wind project that is proposed by a developer who is accused of stealing $20 million from City Industry, though Gonzales and Menke claim that it is about their challenges to an attempt to put family members of Mayor Leticia Lopez's in city-owned housing (there are few privately owned homes). 

Vernon is similar to the City of Industry and Bell (extremely small cities near L.A. that are seen as industrial and frequently complained about as tightly controlled by a small group of residents). Vernon is the smallest incorporated municipality in California with only 130 people, though it and its public utility seem to have a combined $300M budget.