Bell Gardens Candidates

We strongly object to The Times’ statement (Metro Digest, Jan. 22) that the successful recent Bell Gardens recall campaign “was largely funded by absentee landlords.” The implication intended by the line is even more disturbing.

We are each candidates for the City Council positions in the March 10 election. (Two of us are renters; only one is a landlord.) We have been active in the Bell Gardens No Rezoning Committee, which was formed to protest the city’s removal of low-cost rental housing, and other abusive conduct of the City Council.

The average contribution made to the committee for the recall campaign was under $100, and the great bulk of the contributors were residents of Bell Gardens. As for those residents outside of the city, as far as we know, they came from all walks of life, and were not largely composed of landlords. The Times states as a fact that they must have been mostly landlords. This leads to the disturbing implication of your article.

The recall was supported and voted on by the residents of Bell Gardens, 90% of whom are Latino, who were severely concerned with the representation in City Hall. The Times simply joins that small segment of the public who would conclude that Latino residents could not have what it takes to oust the City Council on their own, and therefore it must have been caused by outside interests.

You might have asked the members of the U.S. Civil Rights Commission advisory committee, who supervised every voting station, as to what they felt from the enormous turnout. We assure you that the election result was evidence of the feelings of the residents of Bell Gardens.

JOSEFINA MACIAS

FRANK B. DURAN

RODOLFO GARCIA

GEROGE T. DEITCH

Bell Gardens