West Central council president survives recall

The West Central Neighborhood Council met Oct. 10 to, among other things, vote on whether to recall its president, Kelly Cruz.

Cruz drew the anger and resentment of a group of neighborhood business owners and residents during the recent turmoil over whether West Central should become an Alcohol Impact Area, which would limit sales of high alcohol single serving beverages.

The neighborhood council changed its mind and voted against the AIA at September’s meeting.

The City Council voted last week to exclude the neighborhood from the city’s AIA ordinance.

At September’s meeting a motion was made to recall Cruz, based on allegations that he withheld information from the City Council and bullied neighborhood council members who disagreed with him about the AIA and other neighborhood issues.

At the Oct. 10 meeting, he also was accused of producing fliers against current City Council members Nancy McLaughlin and Mike Fagan, accusing them of meddling in West Central’s business.

Yet Cruz stood his ground.

“I have yet to see any proof of the allegations made against me,” he said.

Supporters of Cruz said that he had had a rough go at the presidency and that some people had ganged up on him.

Several neighborhood council members mentioned that elections for the council are coming up Feb. 1 and it would be better to let Cruz serve the rest of his term.

A recall requires a two-thirds majority to pass, and there were 27 voting members at the meeting.

At the secret ballot vote, 17 voted to recall Cruz – one vote short of the 18 needed.