San Mateo Mayor facing recall campaign months after chaotic council power grab

SAN MATEO — Months after San Mateo descended into chaos with two newly elected council members stalling the appointment of Amourence Lee as mayor, the city’s top leader is facing a recall campaign by some of her staunchest opponents, including five former mayors who say she has acted “unethically” in the past.

For a full seven days in December, this city of about 100,000 nestled on the Peninsula between San Francisco and Silicon Valley was left without a mayor in a power struggle described by many as an “insurrection,” a “power grab,” and an “embarrassing” moment for the city. Lee eventually became mayor after a week of political infighting, but some residents said her behavior during that time, and in the past, make her unfit to remain on the council.

For her part, Lee said she’s “disappointed” but “not surprised” that some in the community want her out, adding that the recall campaign’s stated purpose “changes by the day” and there is “simply no basis for it other than some small segment of the community disagrees with me on some issues.”

Organizers of the recall campaign against Lee did not return a request for comment. On the campaign’s website, organizers say Lee made “unsubstantiated claims of ‘back door deals’ impacting a critical choice for a city council seat, thereby moving her own preferred candidate to the front of the line.” They say Lee refused to act when one of her neighbors, a member of the North Central Neighborhood Association board, allegedly moved the campaign sign of an opponent. And they claim Lee disrespected and disparaged council candidate Rod Linhares for his “anti-choice, anti-LGBTQ” stances after it came out he fundraised for the Archdiocese of San Francisco, which contributed more than $50,000 to the campaign to defeat the anti-choice Proposition 1 in 2020.

Five former San Mateo Mayors — including former San Mateo County Supervisor Carole Groom and former state senator Jerry Hill — penned an editorial in the San Mateo Journal in support of the recall.

The letter says “we do not take a recall lightly, but the status quo cannot stand.” It is otherwise vague in its reasoning. The former mayors say the council is in “unprecedented times” and said “actions by both Lee and a planning commissioner have been forwarded to the district attorney for investigation.”

“We are united in our resolve to galvanize, not polarize, and steer San Mateo toward a more accountable, civil and transparent way of governance,” the letter says. “We believe that with the recall of Councilmember Amourence Lee, we will have taken a huge step toward becoming all we hope for as a community and city.”

Groom said in an interview that former senator Hill approached her for support on the letter but declined to elaborate on her reasons for supporting the recall effort. She simply said “the letter speaks for itself,” and “I think it says plenty.” Hill did not return a request for comment.

Former Mayor Claire Mack, who also signed the letter, said while she supported Lee’s election to the council in 2020, she “washed her hands of her” after several interactions over political issues like housing and land-use policy. Mack said Lee has made offensive remarks about people living in neighborhoods west of El Camino Real — a majority affluent, white area — and accused a prominent North Central politico who she did not name of racial prejudice. Lee denied ever making those types of remarks to Mack and made clear there was a “fundamental misunderstanding” of her position.

Mack, who served on the city council for 12 years and as mayor three times, is most upset that Lee accused members of the community of attempting to buy her vote for a specific candidate to elevate her to mayor.

“Don’t throw a rock and hide your hand, stand up and tell people what you’re doing,” Mack said.

Since December, Lee has remained hush-hush about evidence she has of back-room deals to buy her vote. She did not give the press any information about who approached her with the vote-buying deal and on Thursday during an interview she again refused to give any information.

“What possible motivation would I have (to lie)?” Lee said. “My only desire is to protect the integrity of our city and follow and adhere to the governing principles outlined in the charter. I am actively cooperating with the DA’s investigation.”

She added in a written statement that the DA’s investigation is ongoing and she is “fully cooperating as a credible witness.”

District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe said his office is continuing to investigate the allegations that two people reached out to Lee and possibly offered to exchange votes for the December city council meeting.

“Other than to say that Mayor Lee has been interviewed by my investigator, I would say the case remains under investigation and thus there’s not anything more to release about it,” Wagstaffe said. “It is ongoing and we are hopeful we can complete it within a few weeks.”

Lee said she didn’t ask the member of the North Central neighborhood association to step down after he allegedly moved a campaign sign because “the council chambers is no place to arbitrate or litigate campaign matters.”

She also said that the political deadlock and turmoil back in December was an obstructionist tactic by members of the community who advocate for slow growth policies and oppose spreading out housing throughout the city, not just the areas populated by minorities like Lee’s district.

“The Council should have followed the City Charter and long-standing protocols,” she said. ” I was ready to do the city’s business and follow the City Attorney and City Manager’s request to do the first order of business of electing a Mayor and Deputy Mayor. Others were not. On December 5th, our 128-year tradition of peaceful transfer of power was broken. Our City will forever wear the stain of being deprived of mayoral representation for an unprecedented 7 days. This is why as Mayor I have prioritized Charter reform to establish guardrails to protect against obstructionist tactics.”

A recall is expected to cost $730,000, according to San Mateo County elections officials. Lee boasts the support of several elected officials, including U.S. Representative Kevin Mullin, State Treasure Fiona Ma, the San Mateo Police Officers’ Association and others. She’s also no stranger to intense opposition to her policies: in 2020 an unknown suspect threw a rock through Lee’s window.

“My support for affordable housing, sustainability, and reproductive rights was clear when I was elected citywide by nearly 24,000 votes and I have not changed positions,” Lee said. “I respect some may disagree, but I think that $1M of City funds is best spent serving the community, especially when there’s an election less than a year away.”