Why Wait for Democracy When You Can Game The System?
Organizers say they cannot wait for the next regular election. Their own comments suggest the real goal is to remove elected council members and let the remaining council appoint their replacements.
Cerritos, California - As recall activists circulate petitions, residents are asking a simple question: With another City Council election approaching less than a year away, and the general election mere months away, why pursue a recall now?
The activists’ answer is equally direct: “We don’t want to wait for a regular election.”
But how long would that wait actually be?
Recall proponents already failed to collect enough signatures in time to put it on the November ballot. If the process takes longer, a special election might not occur until January or February. The next regularly scheduled Cerritos City Council election is in March 2027.
In other words, depending on the timing, if the recallers successfully get enough signatures, a special election to recall two councilmembers will occur anywhere from one to three months before the regular council election in March 2027.
Further, the City estimates the cost for a special election in Cerritos to be approximately half a million dollars. And whenever that election is, both candidates will already be in full campaign mode.
That raises an important question: Is this effort truly about holding elected officials accountable, or is it an attempt to change the council’s balance of power before voters have their next regularly scheduled opportunity? To understand that question, it's important to consider the history of this recall.
From Republican Club Rumblings to a Recall PAC
Eye On Pioneer and local news outlets, including the Los Cerritos Community News, have followed the recall effort since it began as rumblings within the Cerritos Republican Club in late 2025.
Carla Gilhuys, a former Cerritos Republican Club secretary and board member, was among the first to publicly discuss recalling two council members. The initial arguments focused heavily on the council members’ alleged political affiliations, while also connecting them individually to the city’s water-rate increase.
That framing leaves out an important fact: The Cerritos City Council approved the water-rate increase as a body, without an objection during the vote.
By April, recall proponents had formed an official political action committee called Concerned Citizens of Cerritos, which is funding and organizing the campaign.
Recall Leader Flood Eye On Pioneer With Comments
One day after Eye On Pioneer posted a video featuring Economic Development Commissioner Al Reyes, Gilhuys posted numerous comments criticizing the coverage.
“I have facts and would be happy to meet with you to share them and educate you,” she wrote. “Otherwise, you can just keep posting all the propaganda that you’ve been given and lower the level of integrity and credibility of your blog. Your choice!”
In another comment, Gilhuys described what would happen if the two targeted council members were successfully removed:
“Maybe if you came out of your mother’s basement from writing this post and did real research, you’d know that the volunteers have no power [or] action in replacing the two candidates. The vacancies resulting from the recall get appointed by the remaining members of the current City Council.”
Her explanation is significant because it draws attention to something voters should understand before signing a petition: A successful recall would not necessarily allow residents to directly elect the replacements. According to Gilhuys’ own description of the process, the remaining council members would appoint them.
A Potential Shift in the Council's Balance of Power
The political implications could be considerable. Gilhuys and her supporters may also be creating a political and procedural mess they have not fully considered.
To me, her apparent strategy seems to depend partly on Councilmember Mark Pulido winning his campaign for the 64th Assembly District. If Pulido leaves the council and the recall removes Councilmembers Lynda P. Johnson and Frank Aurelio Yokoyama, only two council members—both Republicans or Republican-aligned—could remain.
Gilhuys contends that those two members would appoint replacements. The reality is more complicated.
The Cerritos City Charter says council vacancies are to be filled by appointment. It also says that if the council does not fill a declared vacancy within 30 days, it must cause an election to be held. Although the charter normally requires a majority of the council to conduct business, California legal authority indicates that two remaining members of a five-member council may, under some circumstances, be allowed to appoint enough members to restore a quorum.
In other words, the outcome is not nearly as simple or predictable as recall proponents suggest. It could produce disputed appointments, litigation, a special election or some combination of the three—all to replace council members whose seats are already approaching a regularly scheduled election.
The timing makes the exercise even more absurd. If petition signatures are submitted near the deadline, the March 2027 City Council election could be roughly 180 days away. Depending on when recall results are certified, vacancy procedures begin and an election can legally be scheduled, voters could face an extraordinary situation: deciding whether to recall Johnson and Yokoyama for the remainder of their current terms while simultaneously deciding whether to elect them to new terms.
And if a separate special election becomes necessary, Cerritos taxpayers could be left with a substantial bill. Published estimates range from approximately $500,000 to as much as $1.5 million, although those figures and their underlying assumptions should be independently confirmed.
That would be quite a legacy for this campaign: political chaos, possible legal disputes and an enormous public expense—all because recall organizers insist that waiting a few more months for voters to decide is simply too long.
Claims of Financial Mismanagement
Gilhuys has also accused the council of financial mismanagement.
“There is grose [sic] financial mismanagement by the current City Council,” she wrote. “They subsidize the performing arts center and a power plant that Lil [sic] to no Cerritos residence [sic] get benefit to the tune of $10–$12 million a year.”
The comment does not explain how the cited facilities relate to the water-rate increase or provide supporting documentation for the $10 million to $12 million figure.
As Reyes explained in the Eye On Pioneer video, the stated purpose of the rate increase is to update Cerritos’ rates to meet modern financial and infrastructure needs. Even after the increase, Cerritos residents continue to pay less for water than residents in neighboring cities.
That context matters. A rate increase can be unpopular without being evidence of financial mismanagement—especially when the increase was approved by the entire council rather than only the two members targeted for recall.
Cerritos Voters Should Examine the Motive
Recall elections exist for serious circumstances. They should not be treated as a shortcut for political organizations that do not want to wait a few additional months for a regularly scheduled election.
The public deserves clear answers. Why are only two council members being blamed for a rate increase approved without objection by the full council? What evidence supports the campaign’s allegations of financial mismanagement? Who would likely control the appointment of replacement council members? And why is that appointment process preferable to letting Cerritos voters choose their representatives in March 2027?
Before signing a recall petition, residents should look beyond the campaign slogans and consider the practical outcome.
This effort is not merely about removing two council members. It could determine who controls the Cerritos City Council—and whether that decision is made directly by the voters or by a small number of remaining officeholders.
If you feel like you've signed their petition under false pretenses, there's a way out. You can go to Cerritos City Clerk's Office at City Hall and fill out their Recall Petition Signature Removal Form. You have to fill it out in person so that the City Clerk can verify that this is a legitimate request to remove a signature from a petition.
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