I am fresh from the meeting of the Recall Amante Committee. A very cohesive group met at the headquarters of the recall effort this evening.  I learned quite a bit from those who attended, including the fact the signature gathering, although having a ways to go, is coming along nicely and for the most part has been a smooth process. Signature gatherers, hampered by a recalcitrant city clerk (who now owes allegiance to Boss Tweed Amante -thanks, voters) who kicked back the petition three times before giving the go ahead after the Chili Cookoff, have spent time in each neighborhood, speaking to residents and explaining the issues. In many cases, it was reported, the petition signers were not signing for reasons stated on the petition but for reasons of their own to recall Jerry. It seems he has made a lot of friends all over town.

As I said, it was a good meeting. Late in the meeting, my good friend Dan Chmielewski of the OC Liberal Blog, rolled in to lend some advice and support. As a group of us were leaving, we observed… this:

So, what are we supposed to think? Here we are, coming out of a meeting with the Recall Amante group and we see this Tustin Police Department canine SUV that has no discernable reason for being there, parked in the industrial park directly across from the meeting location. Is Steve Greenhut right? Have our worst fears about a secret police state evolved? Does Jerry have juice with the PD?

Worse than that, as we went along our business, two other attendees and I stepped out to the street to finish our discussion and to talk about my motorcycle that I had ridden to the meeting. As we talked, the police SUV in question suddenly peels out from the parking lot, flashing by us at high speed while….get this, the dog barks at us. Are we supposed to be intimidated? C’mon, get serious. The least the cop could have done, if he really wanted to intimidate us, was flash his Taser. Then I might be concerned. And, all this after I said such nice things about our cops the other day.

I am sure Dan has something to say about all this. I’ll post his link when he does.