Recall Diane Cibrian…toll road flip flopper will regret her vote!

SA Toll Party takes on Diane Cibrian
By Tracy Idell Hamilton
Express-News
October 29, 2008

A handful of residents in San Antonio’s District 8 joined SA Toll Party’s Terri Hall in front of Councilwoman Diane Cibrian’s district office Tuesday morning to announce the launch of their recall effort — even though their only chance to bounce her out of office would come right at the end of her term.Cibrian has gone back on her campaign promise to oppose toll roads, they say, and they point to a vote she made as a member of the Metropolitan Planning Organization last December as proof.For her part, Cibrian says that vote was on a financing mechanism for toll roads, a vote she says came after getting more than 1,000 emails in support. She says she has always opposed tolling existing roadways and still does.

While word of the recall has been around since late September, when Hall launched www.recalldiane.com, today’s press conference was the official beginning of the effort, she said.

The group has an uphill battle if it wants to get the recall on the ballot. It must gather signatures from ten percent of District 8 voters who were eligible to vote in the last municipal election. That’s about 8,000 signatures.

Hall said her group has “a few hundred” signatures so far, although she said she didn’t have an exact count. Later, she said there weren’t many signatures yet because the group has only block-walked twice, and most people are not home when they walk.

The group has also launched a robo-call that lets listeners press one if they want to sign the petition. Hall said many have, but those signatures haven’t been rounded up yet. The big push, she said, will come on Election Day, as the group stakes out polling places across District 8 to gather signatures.

Funding for the recall comes from the coffers of SA Toll Party, Hall said. She did not know how much had been raised in District 8. She said the recall has not cost much yet, “maybe a thousand dollars.”

Criticized for not living in District 8 by Cibrian, (she lives in Comal County) Hall said the toll road issue affects everyone. Bill Pratt, who is also active in the recall, does live in the district, however, and said he used to be a big supporter of Cibrian.

“She became a different person after she was elected,” he said. Not only does he feel “betrayed” by what he calls her changed stance on toll roads, Pratt said Cibrian is now “in the pocket” of developers, which could negatively affect the city’s efforts to keep Camp Bullis free of encroaching development.

Pratt just met Hall for the first time Tuesday, and was so impressed with her energy that he called her “our other Sarah Palin.”

Cibrian dismisses much of the group’s rhetoric. “I believe my constituents know how hard I work,” she said. “They see what we’re getting done in the district.” She also points out that the vote to include toll roads in the MPO’s community transportation plan came “years before I was on the council.”

She also says Hall distorts her record on Camp Bullis, noting that she was the first council person to put a moratorium on development around Camp Bullis, created the joint-land use task force and moved forward a council resolution for a short term initiative to protect the property.

She’s heard of the robo-calls, too. “I hear it’s so long people are hanging up before it’s over,” she said.

Hall says her group is shooting to gather enough signatures to get the recall on the May 2009 ballot.

Ironically, that’s also the end of Cibrian’s term, so technically, there would be nothing to recall her from. But if she’s serious about running for mayor, and the group does manage to get the recall on the ballot, she would have the historic distinction of being on the ballot in two places.

But don’t hold your breath. A quick call to the City Clerk’s office found that it has received “several inquiries over the years” about recalling a council person, said Leticia Vacek, but no list of signatures has ever materialized.