Anaheim Councilman Jordan Brandman is the focus of a recall effort led by his former council colleague, Denise Barnes, after the public revelation of offensive comments regarding Barnes that Brandman texted to another person last year.
Barnes won a council seat in 2016 and served on the dais with Brandman from 2018, when he was reelected after some time off the council, until last fall when she lost her reelection bid.
After a City Council meeting in February 2020, apparently angry with Barnes about a city issue, Brandman was texting with a resident when he referred to her with a vulgar term for female genitals and said he would “rip her (expletive) (breasts) off.”
The messages came to light a few months ago after a friend of the original recipient shared them, according to a local political blogger. Brandman publicly acknowledged and apologized for the texts at council meetings on June 22 and July 13.
Barnes said Monday, July 12, that a couple of development projects were discussed at the meeting before Brandman sent the texts, and after she changed her vote on one of them, “he just went crazy, I guess.”
“Public figures do not speak in that language, ever. It’s just over-the-top egregious,” she said.
Barnes said she and other residents are also displeased with other aspects of Brandman’s council service, including that he didn’t vote to have the city step in to block rent hikes faced by seniors at mobile home parks in Anaheim, and that he supported the Angel Stadium sale, which Barnes called “a big loss to the city as far as property and any kind of long-term resource to the city.”
The text messages were the last straw that drove residents to follow through with a recall campaign, Barnes said.
She and others working on the recall feel Brandman is “not representing the best interests of his community,” Barnes said. “I’m just concerned that this is going to continue for another two years, and we need somebody stable there.”
In an interview Wednesday, Brandman was vague about what upset him the night he sent the texts and said he had forgotten the conversation happened until it resurfaced a few months ago.
He’s not proud of the messages, he said, adding, “I wish I had chosen a more thoughtful way to express that in a private conversation.”
At that time, and in the months since, Brandman said he was dealing with health and other personal issues, but he did take a break from most of his council duties early this year and is now doing better. (Councilman Jose Moreno suggested at a council meeting this week that Brandman take a leave of absence.)
In his June 22 public apology, Brandman said, “I am ashamed that those words were uttered by any human being, and I have been working very hard to make sure that I conduct myself benevolently and with honor, and I hope to earn back the trust and confidence of those who I also respect and love in this community.”
Asked about the situation, Mayor Harry Sidhu said in an emailed statement, “As council member Brandman has acknowledged, the language was beyond inappropriate. He recognizes that and has sincerely apologized.”
Barnes said Brandman has been served with a notice of the recall, one of the early steps in the process, and recall supporters are now gathering signatures to get it on the ballot.
In his answer to the recall petition, which the process also provides for, Brandman argued he’s been keeping his promises to residents to address homelessness, attract higher-end developments to west Anaheim and help people recover from the pandemic.
“If it is the will of the residents and voters in District 2 to have me defend my record in a special election format, then I shall do so,” Brandman said.
City spokesman Mike Lyster said recall proponents have until early October to collect signatures from 20% of eligible voters in Brandman’s District 2, which comes to 5,323 people.
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July 17, 2021 at 05:09AM
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Anaheim councilman is target of recall effort led by former colleague - OCRegister
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