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Foster City Recall Effort: Residents Fight to Overthrow Councilmember

Erick Muniz
/
Flikr Creative Commons
Grand Master Herb Perez, Gold Medal Champion at the Barcelona Olympics and member of the USA TKD Committee with Erick Muniz Torres at the Promotion Ceremony at Gold Medal Center in Foster City, Ca.

Foster City residents behind the campaign to recall Councilmember Herb Perez say he’s “a bully.” Perez, who is an Olympic gold medalist in taekwondo, was first elected to City Council in 2011. 

Herb Perez at the Olympics:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fi6Tyemk0tU&t=10s

But critics they need to oust him now to send a message to their kids that bullies hold no place in public office. 

Perez has been known to refer to community members as ‘delusional morons,’ ‘malcontents,’ and ‘miscreants.’ Critics say he rarely attends council meetings, and has failed to protect Foster City from over-development. 

Advertisement from the Herb Perez Recall campaign:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34MOHVC7Y70&feature=youtu.be

Perez does not support the recall effort against him. He says of his critics: “They cannot name a single wrongdoing, no illegal taking of money, nothing. They just don’t like me and I’m OK with that.” 

This ballot initiative has two parts for Foster City voters: a question about removing Perez as well as a list of possible nominees to replace him. If a majority of voters choose to recall Perez, the nominee with the most votes will replace him. If you think he should be recalled, vote yes. If you think he should stay in office, vote no.

Correction: A previous version of this story said Herb Perez was the Vice Mayor of Foster City. He is a Foster City councilmember. We regret this error.