Politics & Government
Effort To Recall Sheriff Announced by Stopsmartmeters.org
There are mixed signals from county on authority over state agency.
An effort to recall Santa Cruz County Sheriff Phil Wowak kicked off Friday at the county courthouse by opponents of SmartMeters who say he has done nothing to enforce the county’s moratorium against the installation of the device, passed by the Board of Supervisors last year.
“We don't think we will have any trouble collecting the signatures, but we don't relish the idea of recalling the sheriff,” said Scotts Valley resident Josh Hart, founder of StopSmartMeters.org. “If the sheriff wants to do his job and enforce the law, and stop PG&E from installing illegally ... that is what we would like to see happen.”
Those behind the recall effort must gather more than 14,000 signatures, or 10 percent of the registered voters in the county, within 140 days of when the petitions circulation. Before collecting signatures, they must post an announcement in a local newspaper and file the standard paperwork for any recall of an elected official.
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In the past two months, several protesters have been arrested for trying to stop Wellington Energy trucks on the way to install the controversial PG&E wireless meters throughout the county.
However, Section 1 of the moratorium—officially County Ordinance 5084—says “no SmartMeter may be installed in or on any home, apartment, condominium or business of any type within the unicorporated area of the County of Santa Cruz.”
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The very next paragraph is clear that “Violations of the Moratorium may be charged as infractions or misdemeanors as set forth in Chapter 1.12 of the Santa Cruz County Code.”
This is what has Hart and others up in arms drafting petitions to remove Sheriff Wowak.
Repeatedly, however, sheriff’s deputies have chosen to arrest protesters instead of citing the Wellington employees. Sheriff's deputy April Skalland said the protesters were arrested for blocking the sidewalks.
“We've put a system in place that if a SmartMeter is being installed they can file a report online and we will respond to it when an officer is available,” Skalland said.
Sheriff Wowak told the Santa Cruz Sentinel that it is an inefficient use of his department's authority to arrest installers because "they are just doing their job."
StopSmartMeters.org literature includes links to articles, including one about Army experiments with electromagnetic fields being used as non-lethal weapons in future battles. Monica McGuire was at the protest Friday and says she supports a smart grid, but that it should be a wired grid, because of possible health risks.
“They don't cause instant cancer, but the long-term effects degrade our immune systems over time,” McGuire said.
The ordinance also states that moratorium should be enforced through the police powers of the county, which is where the whole situation gets tricky. A county official who asked to remain anonymous said that county officials have very little authority over energy issues because there is so much overlapping between communities when it comes to public resources like water and electricity.
“It's an issue of the CPUC and the question is this: ‘Does the county have the authority to override a decision of the CPUC?’” said the official. “[StopSmarMeters.org] wants more local control on this issue, and that is probably not going to happen.”
SmartMeter opponent Jeff Nordahl says he wants to know who sheriff’s deputies are getting their orders from when they arrest protesters instead of enforcing Ordinance 5084.
“Do they have orders to let Wellington do installations, and arrest us? Who is giving them these orders?”
