A controversial vote on LAFCO inspires participation — and a recall attempt.

It was around dusk on Sunday night, Feb. 6, and Mary Ann Leffel was relaxing after a bath when there was a knock at the door. Attorney Alexander Henson was there to serve her with a notice of intention to circulate a recall petition, on behalf of a new group called The Committee to Defend Democracy – Recall Leffel.

Leffel, who has represented District 3 on the board of the Monterey Regional Airport board since 2008, was not entirely surprised. She’s taken heat in recent years as an MRY board member mostly due to the airport’s plan to build a new road, facing pushback from neighbors in Del Rey Oaks and then in North Monterey. (The Monterey opposition resulted in a lawsuit filed by the city against the airport, and in a Jan. 14 ruling – citing Leffel’s comments to placate Del Rey Oaks residents – a judge sided with Monterey, overturning the airport’s master plan.)

But it was Leffel’s vote on a different board, the Local Agency Formation Commission of Monterey County, that had spurred the energy around a recall. Like many local agencies, the LAFCO board is composed partly of other elected officials who are appointed to serve on various regional agencies. LAFCO voted down a request from the Monterey Peninsula Water Management District to pursue a public buyout of Cal Am. In technical terms, LAFCO commissioners denied a request to activate latent powers – the kind of bureaucratese that allows agencies like LAFCO, despite their influence, to sometimes operate without much public participation.

But LAFCO’s 5-2 denial has rightly angered public water proponents, who note that Monterey Peninsula voters overwhelmingly voted yes on a public buyout measure in 2018.

Leffel isn’t elected by those same voters, though her District 3, which includes a large swatch of Monterey and part of Pacific Grove, overlaps with the area in MPWMD’s jurisdiction. And while Leffel is elected by voters to the airport board, she is elected by colleagues in 43 special districts – like fire, water, hospital and cemetery districts – to serve on LAFCO.

“I am elected to LAFCO by the districts,” she says. “That’s who I represent.”

That convoluted logic gets her into a tricky position. Unless the public’s needs are in lockstep with special districts, do you steamroll the public?

“She seems to have a very cavalier attitude about who she has to be accountable to. You’re supposed to represent your constituents, and I think she’s failed,” says Nancy Runyon, chair of the recall committee. “She’s not representing us.”

Leffel plans not to seek another term when hers ends in 2024. But she is planning to seek another four-year term on LAFCO to represent those 43 special districts, as her current term comes to an end in May.

Simultaneously, LAFCO terms for public member Matt Gourley, who has been on LAFCO for 20 years, and alternate public member Steve Snodgrass (10 years), are also coming up. (Gourley also voted against the public buyout measure – and he unambiguously represents the public at large.)

In 2018, the last time these seats were open, only four people applied from 43 special districts, and only five for the public member seat. To qualify, you must live in Monterey County and “have an interest in the operation and organization of local governments.”

Hopefully there are a lot more people who fit that bill this year – more participation in local government is a good thing. Anecdotal data so far is encouraging. “We’re getting a lot more interest than we normally do from special districts and from the public on how this process works and how they can apply,” LAFCO Senior Analyst Jonathan Brinkmann says. The deadline to apply for the public member seat is Feb. 24; for special district representatives it’s Feb. 28. (Visit monterey.ca.lafco.gov for details and applications.)

Meanwhile, the Committee to Defend Democracy plans to formalize and begin fundraising in the coming days. There are several steps before they can begin collecting signatures of District 3 voters, and they’ll need roughly 2,500 signatures to get a recall on the ballot. That’s a lot of signatures and a lot of work, but Runyon thinks it’s achievable: “I don’t know anybody that isn’t disappointed and angry with Mary Ann Leffel.”

SARA RUBIN is the Weekly’s editor. Reach her at sara@mcweekly.com or follow her at twitter.com/sarahayleyrubin