Rexford, Boyack clash over Cedar fire protection
Essentially, each woman accused the other of lying about whether, days after the fire, Rexford said she had asked that a fire truck be reassigned to protect her Creek Road home.
The political flare-up began during the public oral portion of the council meeting when recall leader Steve Vaus addressed the issue of the fire truck. According to Vaus, several city employees have told him that Rexford called the emergency operations center on Oct. 26, 2003 and demanded that a truck be dispatched to her neighborhood. Vaus said that records show that Engine 153 was moved from Blue Crystal Trails to Creek Road and that the engine stayed there for 18 hours. Two homes on Blue Crystal ended up burning, he said.
“You wanted a fire truck and you got it,” Vaus said.
His statements were directed to Rexford, but her seat was empty. Moments earlier the four-term councilwoman left the dais and went into a back room.
Once Vaus finished, Boyack said that within a week of the Cedar fire, Rexford “personally told me she got a fire truck.” That led Rexford’s husband, Paul, to stand up from the audience and shout, “I know that’s a lie!” Mayor Don Higginson warned him to calm down or he would be removed from the chambers.
Rexford was not on the dais, but she was listening to Boyack over the public address system. She returned after the public oral session was concluded and said nothing on the matter until three hours later, as the meeting was ending.
“I didn’t do that. I didn’t say those things,” Rexford told the council. “It’s an out-and-out lie. I answer to my God and she (Boyack) answers to her God.”
Boyack and Rexford each added to their statements after the meeting.
Boyack said she telephoned Rexford, whom she considered to be a friend at the time, three or four days after the Cedar fire to check on her welfare.
“We talked about the course of the fire and how it must have been scarey,” Boyack recalled. “She (Rexford) said, ‘Well, I got a fire truck to protect my home and my neighborhood.’ A week later she mentioned it again.” Boyack said she later shared her account with city staffers.
“I have a clean conscience and I am telling the truth,” Boyack said. “All I know is what Betty told me.”
After the meeting, Rexford said “I was in shock” after listening to Boyack’s account.
Asked what motive Boyack might have to go public with the story, Rexford said, “She’s a woman scorned, she didn’t get to be mayor (following Mickey Cafagna’s death.) I think she would do anything. She’s a self-promoter.”
In related recall developments, the campaign opened an office on Saturday and is sending supporters — some paid — into neighborhoods to collect signatures on petitions.
It has also picked up the support of Mayor Don Higginson and Sharon Cafagna, the widow of former Mayor Mickey Cafagna. Their names, among others, are in a full-page recall campaign advertisement appearing in this week’s News Chieftain.
The campaign office is at 13356 Poway Road in Poway Valley Center retail center. The office will be staffed by volunteers. Hours will be from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and from 4 to 6 p.m. Mondays through Fridays and from 9 a.m. to noon on Saturdays and Sundays.
With the holiday season over, Vaus said last week the recall effort is taking on renewed energy. He said more than a dozen workers will be canvassing neighborhoods and that half of them will be paid $10 an hour to collect signatures. He expressed confidence that the campaign will collect well in excess of the required 5,657 signatures needed to qualify the measure on the June 8 primary ballot. His goal is to have about 7,500 signatures in hand by the Jan. 28 deadline — approximately the number of votes Rexford received when she was elected to the fourth term in 2006. That date was moved up from Feb. 10 by the city to make sure there is enough time to validate the signatures in time to qualify for the primary election.
The recall petition says “there is compelling evidence that Betty Rexford used the power of her Poway City Council office to coerce city inspectors and planners to interfere with her neighbors’ building plans. As a result, those neighbors filed a lawsuit against the City of Poway and Rexford. The suit was recently settled out of court at a cost to the city, including legal fees, of $495,000.”
The petition also recounts the statement made by Rexford’s four council colleagues right after the settlement was announced in August. The four asked that Rexford consider resigning from office, saying, in part, that “public trust has been irrevocably damaged.”
Rexford has denied any wrongdoing. Her response is printed on the petition.
If the campaign succeeds in collecting enough signatures, Poway voters will decide two related issues at the polls:
• Should Rexford be removed from office?
• If she is, which declared candidate should be elected to complete the balance of her term, which ends in November. Three candidates have declared to date, although the formal candidate filing period would not begin until after the city clerk certifies that the election will be held.
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