A SCREENGRAB of the “Save Surf City” website, advocating the recall of five members of the Huntington Beach City Council In November 2021.

Another attempt to recall city council members in the West Orange County area has fallen short.

On Wednesday, Marcia Nielson, candidate and voter services manager for the Orange County Registrar of Voters, formally notified Huntington Beach City Clerk Robin Estanislau that petitions to call for a recall election to remove Kim Carr, (Vice Mayor) Mike Posey and Dan Kalmick did not have enough valid signatures.

In each case, recall proponents needed valid signatures from 10 percent of registered voters in Surf City, which amounts to 13,352. In each case, the petitions were about 1,000 short.

Now, the county registrar will bill Huntington Beach for about $144,000, based on a cost of verifying signatures at $3.40 each.

The recall campaign came in the wake of the council’s decision to appoint Rhonda Bolton to a seat on the council to fill the seat made vacant by the resignation of Tito Ortiz. Recall backers wanted the council to select Gracey Van Der Mark, who was supported by Ortiz. Originally, the “Save Surf City” group was seeking to recall five members of the council, including Barbara Delgleize and Natalie Moser.

Wednesday’s announcement follows the announcement in March that a recall effort against Westminster Vice Mayor Carlos Manzo fell 234 valid signatures short of the required number. An effort to recall Councilmember Kimberly Ho also failed.