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Even the Villaraigosa Recall-ers Think Recall Isn't Working

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Photo by alexbcthompson via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr

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The movement to recall Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa took shape in April, when former mayoral candidates Walter Moore, Phil Jennerjahn, and David Hernandez, as well as former City Council candidate Augusto Bisani, joined forces to ask Angelenos to "Recall City Hall."

But the movement didn't really sprout wings, despite the widespread criticism of Villaraigosa, including the recent "ticketgate" controversy. At this point, "the backers of a recall drive against [Villaraigosa] are all but throwing in the towel," according to the Daily News.

The success of the recall relies solely on how many signatures the group can collect. They need 240,000. They have, says Jennerjahn, a number "in the hundreds." With six weeks left to, essentially, put up or shut up, Jennerjahn is already looking ahead to his bid for City Council next year, and admits the push to remove the current Mayor from his office isn't going well: "My effort to recall Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is facing some daunting obstacles and, if the situation does not change, this initial recall will not succeed."

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