Cotati residents vow to recall council member

<p>Cotati residents said Thursday they are unsatisfied by official efforts to censure City Councilman George Barich over a racially insensitive picture on his personal Web site and will ask voters in November to recall him.</p><p>John Moore, a longtime Barich critic who has emerged as a leader in the drive, said any condemnation from the council will be a mere “wrist slap” that will change nothing and lock the five-member panel in a state of dysfunction.</p><p>Moore said he’ll meet next week with other Barich foes to begin the recall process, which will involve gathering signatures on petitions to get the measure on the ballot.</p><p>“I think there’s a real sense of urgency and seriousness out there,” said Moore, an insurance underwriter whose wife Lisa was a councilwoman from 2002-2006. “People are seeing the light they failed to see before.”</p><p>Wednesday night, dozens of people lined up at a council meeting to express their displeasure with Barich, who posted a picture of himself in blackface on a blog that is critical of President Barack Obama. Many asked the newly elected official to resign and others chastised the rest of the council for not speaking out about it.</p><p>In response, a majority of the council said it would vote for an official condemnation, possibly at the next meeting. </p><p>Just what that would mean was unclear. Councilwoman Janet Orchard said Thursday it probably would amount to a strongly worded statement, expressing outrage at the blog and Barich’s confrontational style since being elected to office in November.</p><p>Orchard said the council can’t remove Barich but voters can recall him and the council won’t sit by in silence.</p><p>“So many people are offended and hurt by his actions,” Orchard said. </p><p>Barich, 50, did not return calls Thursday. In an e-mail, he apologized for offending anyone but denied his blog was racist. He maintained his belief that the controversy was generated by rivals associated with the Chamber of Commerce.</p><p>“There are people in our community obsessed with seeing something in my heart that is not there,” Barich wrote. “For them, I am deeply saddened. While I do apologize if I offended anyone by my actions, that’s often the price of real leadership.”</p><p>But some residents — backed by members of the county’s NAACP and other black groups — said they don’t like Barich’s brand of leadership. His voice cracking with emotion, former Mayor Harold Berkemeier told the council Wednesday he would do everything in his power to get Barich ousted.</p><p>Berkemeier said Barich is a bully who has brought shame on the city and must be removed. “You won’t be sitting there next year,” said Berkemeier said Wednesday, pointing to a stone-faced Barich Wednesday night.</p><p>County elections officials said a recall could make the November ballot, which this year is devoted mostly to special district elections. Recall proponents would have 60 days to collect signatures from 25 percent of registered voters, or about 1,075 signatures, said Assistant Registrar Gloria Colter.</p><p>The recall would be decided by a simple majority and voters also would be asked to select a replacement candidate on the same ballot, Colter said.</p><p>Costs to the city for an election were not immediately available.</p><p>Recall supporters said Thursday some expense would be justified. The council is mired in controversy now and will be hamstrung in its ability to run the city, recall backers said.Barich was an outspoken City Hall gadlfy for many years before he was elected by a five-vote margin. </p><p>“I have tried to work with him but he has made it absolutely impossible,” Orchard said.</p><p>Before the blog flap, Barich was in a fight with city management over his use of official letterhead to write Obama, criticizing the federal stimulus bill. Orchard said Barich has another Web site that contains attacks on residents and that his problems have dominated city business.</p>