FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 5, 2003
CONTACT: Info@RecallGrayDavis.Com
RECALL
AGAINST CALIFORNIA’S GOV. GRAY DAVIS
LED BY FORMER STATE LEGISLATOR
Website "RecallGrayDavis.com"
Goes Live!
(Sacramento)
– Former State Assemblyman Howard Kaloogian announced today
that he is leading an effort to recall Governor Gray Davis (D
- California) from office.
The
recall campaign was launched this morning with the unveiling of
the website, www.RecallGrayDavis.com, which will serve as the
online hub for collecting contributions to finance the recall
effort, recruitment of volunteers, and organization of the signature
gathering process.
Kaloogian
To Lead Disaffected
of All Political Parties in Recall Drive
The
preliminary stages of the recall effort will focus on raising
funds and organizing a volunteer force in preparation to begin
the signature-gathering process to qualify the recall. Kaloogian
will be reaching out to leaders in every political party to build
support for the recall across the political spectrum.
“I
am starting this recall drive after determining that there must
be a broad-based and multi-party effort that will have the credibility
to qualify the recall for the ballot. As it stands right now,
we need leadership to unite the various splinter recall efforts
that have been sprouting up over the past several weeks,”
Kaloogian declared.
Kaloogian,
who served in the California State Legislature as a Republican
Assemblyman for three two-year terms, continued by promising to
“aggressively lead those who are disaffected in a sweeping
recall effort that will send the message to politicians around
the country: you WILL be held accountable for deceiving voters
during your campaign.”
For
the next several weeks the Recall Gray Davis effort will focus
on organizing and recruiting the thousands of volunteers needed
to collect the requisite 898,000 valid signatures to qualify the
recall measure on the ballot.
Davis
Malfeasance in Office and Lies to Californians
Far Exceed Standards for Recall
According
to Kaloogian, the recall is predicated not just on the
complete malfeasance of Gray Davis while in office, but also the
recent revelations that he lied about the size and seriousness
of the state’s budget crisis in order to secure re-election.
Davis took an $8 billion surplus and turned it into the largest
budget deficit for any state in American history – almost
$35 billion by his own estimates. Massive increases in taxes –
even a proposed Internet tax – cuts to fire and police protection
and education are being proposed by Davis as ways to bail himself
out of the mess he created.
In
addition, criminal investigations and court testimony revealed
that Davis was so consumed with fundraising, that he paid little
attention to the challenges facing the state. On the day a crucial
piece of legislation to address the energy crisis was before the
legislature, Davis did not even work for the bill’s passage.
Instead, he flew to Palm Springs for a golf fundraiser.
Kaloogian
explained that while the recall process is not to be taken lightly,
Gray Davis has left Californians with no other choice but to recall
him before we see more job losses; cuts to education, police and
fire; higher taxes; suffocating government regulations; and the
exodus of companies and productive individuals out of the Golden
State:
“The
recall process is something that should be reserved for only the
most serious cases of malfeasance in office. Unfortunately
Gray Davis’ conduct far surpasses the standards necessary
to justify a recall. It’s not a question
of whether we should recall Gray Davis, it’s an issue of
how long can we afford to wait – all the while watching
California slide further into the abyss,” Kaloogian concluded.
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