That’s the message from recall proponents and South County residents Tom Hammond and Felix Flores who complain Lassen County Clerk Julie Bustamante should accept responsibility for her role in the failed campaign seeking the recall of Lassen County District 5 Supervisor Jack Hanson.

According to Flores, when Bustamante finally approved the recall paperwork for signatures and circulation she gave them three forms she said they could use — a correct form, a correct from stamped approved (a receipt) and an incorrect, unapproved form she had already rejected.

Flores said John Everett was present during the meeting with the clerk and witnessed the events. He said he and Everett immediately took the forms to Hammond. Flores said Hammond put them away in his desk until they got reproduced.

“I put them in a manila folder by themselves and put them in a file,” Hammond said. “There was no other paperwork anywhere near that had anything to do with that. I took them right to the copier and got 70 or 75 done the first round … Somewhere there was a mix-up. Those were the forms provided (to) us. There were 25 good ones, and those were taken off Alan Schumacher’s computer and were reproduced in his home … So that’s how we ended up with some good ones and some bad ones.”

Hammond said the forms off Schumacher’s computer were correct because Schumacher made all the changes Bustamante requested.

The county clerk tells a different story.

“They are incorrect,” Bustamante said. “I absolutely did not give them the wrong form. I specifically gave them one form and told them do not use the others. I told them to throw the others away. I gave them the original, approved form that was totally blank and told them to use this form … It’s so black and white. It’s so cut and dried. It’s so clear.”

The recall proponents say the misuse of nearly $800,000 in redevelopment funds, the deterioration of the Local Reuse Authority buildings in Herlong and Hanson’s lack of leadership have caused South County residents to lose faith in their elected district 5 supervisor.

They say the error on the recall petitions — a typographical error in the spelling of the name of one of the recall proponents — should not be enough to reject the will of the people to have a recall election.

“Let the people make the decision,” Flores said.

“We’ve got legal representation,” Hammond said. “We’re not going away.”

The recall committee met Wednesday, May 23 after deadline to discuss its options.