A couple weeks ago, 25-year-old Chloe Newton was nannying at someone else’s house when there was a knock at the door.
The man on the doorstep was collecting signatures for a recall effort against City Councilmembers Drew Glover and Chris Krohn. He mentioned that Glover had sexually assaulted two women, Newton says. Shocked, she signed her name without giving the issue much thought. “I just really regretted signing it,” says Newton, who quickly learned that what the man with the clipboard said was a lie.
Days later, her mom Susan Zackovich walked up to a recaller tabling at the surfer statue on West Cliff. Zackovich says the man started talking to her about how Glover wasn’t fairly elected and that he actually came in seventh place last year. More lies.
Recall leader Dan Couglin expresses skepticism that the exchanges really happened the way Zackovich and Newton describe them. If anything, he says, they could have been mere miscommunications. He stresses that organizers make a point of training petition gatherers to understand that there have been no allegations of Glover or doing anything sexually inappropriate. “And we don’t even hint that he wasn’t fairly elected,” he adds.
Newton was relieved to hear that it is, in fact, possible for her to withdraw her name from the petition by contacting the Santa Cruz city clerk. Anyone interested in withdrawing their name from the petition can visit stopsantacruzrecalls.org/rescind-signature.
Anyone interested in living in a functioning, circus-free democracy, however, has little recourse at this point.
Really wild ! Wondering if you will be reporting the other side of this?? The side of people being assaulted?? Are you going to write anything about that ??
No one has been assaulted, that’s exactly the point of this article. The claims are that they “harassed” and “bullied” other council members
Clearly the long and short of this “story” is to highlight the link at the end of the article for those who wish to withdraw their name from the Recall Petition. Glover has not been accused NOR charged with Sexual Assault and he was Duly Elected. Moral of the “Story” ? Just because someone writes an article saying certain events have transpired does not necessarily make it so. Not everything we see in the nuz is actually News.
Having tabled and walked city neighborhoods for countless hours for the recall effort with many signature gathering volunteers, I can testify that I have never heard anyone say either of these statements. I also express skepticism about this story. There is sufficient validated information supporting the recall, it’s not necessary to make things up. Signing the recall petitions allows a vote to be placed on the ballot, giving every voter in the city a voice. For more information, reasons for recall, news, articles and video, go to santacruzunited.com
Sorry, but I have heard directly from two students at UCSC who said the sexual assault claim was made to them. Perhaps the training is slipshod. Or perhaps, with one canvasser saying they are paid $16 per signature, there is too great an incentive to tell lies in order to get someone to sign.
Nuz and it’s award winning reporting
let me get this right, there is a rumor that petition gatherers are lying and saying that chris and drew having been convicted of assaulting women. so, dan couglin, speaking on behalf of the recall campaign says “that is not true”, we would never lie like that. but then, in the comments on this story, paige concannon, one of the authors of the recall petition, implies that chris and drew have assaulted women saying “people being assaulted” is the “other side of the story”. did dan an paige get their messaging confused because it seems like paige’s comments directly contradict dan’s statement in the story.
No one has mentioned where the money to pay signature gatherers or glossy mailers is coming from. Who would be interested in spreading lies about and bankrolling a petition to sink the two candidate who vocally support rent control in rapidly unlivable Santa Cruz?
There have been multiple incidents. Several signature gatherers were assaulted, and a member of the public was pepper sprayed when signing the petition, a canvasser were knocked to the ground, and belongings taken,
The anti recall groups actively solicit a targeted campaign of harassment.
Are any of these events reported. One volunteer mentioned that they always started a new petition sheet as soon as four signatures were obtained. They locked the original in the trunk of their car…. Why ? simply because they were afraid that the petitions would be snatched, stolen and destroyed. The campaign of intimidation has been continuous.
Why would Trumped up inaccurate allegations even be allowed as a justification to file a recall initiative? This is the most important question we should all be asking. Why is the democratic elections process not being honored? Why are the recallers in such a hurry to remove two duly elected councilmembers from office? I think these are the most important questions to be asking. And why are women allowing issues that should have been handled through mediation to be hijacked by the recallers for their own purposes? How far will this situation be allowed to continue to spin out of control before something changes. I feel so honored to be a member of the Stop the Recalls group – and to feel the growing support in our community for dialogue rather than division – understanding rather than blaming.
Garrett Stephens, Stacey Falls,
I may be wrong, but I believe that Paige is referring to canvassers that were harrassed and bullied, not the Councilmembers, who have never been accused of any kind of criminal behavior by SCU, SCT, or anyone affiliated with the recall campaign. I myself voted for Chris Krohn twice, and now regret doing so.
It is a shame that the only argument that recall opponents have been able to muster in this entire episode is the same one falsely trotted out by the Councilmembers themselves; that the recall is an effort borne of “outside real estate interests,” or some other unidentified “conspiracy” or “vendetta.” Such misrepresentations only serve to underscore the degree to which they are out-of-touch with their community, which as at-large representatives they are bound to represent the entirety of.
In any case, over 22,500 signatures were submitted to the County elections office this morning, and we will now see whether the recall makes it onto the ballot. If it does, our community will get to vote on whether the Councilmembers remain in office. If they are removed, we will all get to vote on who should replace them.