Otay Water District Division 4 Director Hector Gastelum has been officially put on notice about a recall effort put together by community organizers attempting to get the first-time elected official out of office because of what they say were “hateful” and “bigoted” social media posts against Muslims.
A commitee has been finalized and will be chartered at the end of the week, said Fayaz Nawabi, who has been leading recall efforts against Gastelum. Reverend Jason Prater will chair the committee.
Nawabi addressed Gastelum during public comments at Wednesday’s Otay Water District board meeting, informing Gastelum of plans to start the recall initiative.
Once the recall committee gets chartered, they can raise the funds needed to start the recall initiative. Nawabi estimated that $60,000 needs to be raised for the recall campaign.
After the funds are raised, Gastelum will need to be served with a recall notice.
Gastelum has been under fire for a series of social media posts in which he called for more countries to be included in President Donald Trump’s travel ban that targeted Muslim majority countries. In other Tweets he referred to Muslims in those countries as rapists and murders.
For months, protestors have shown up at OWD meetings asking for an apology. Nawabi said Gastelum refused to apologize for his Tweets, prompting calls for his resignation. Since Gastelum has repeatedly said he won’t resign, Nawabi said it was time for Otay Water rate payers to take matters into their own hands.
“We’ve given Hector ample opportunities to apologize,” he said. “He has not apologized. He’s always apologized for us being offended by the words and the statements he’s made in the past. And he’s still continuing to make more statements right now on his Twitter and Facebook that’s more offensive to vulnerable communities.”
Gastelum said he has offered multiple apologies but that protestors do not want to accept them.
He said he now looks forward to campaigning against the recall.
“It’s unfortunate, but if they want to pick a fight, I’ll beat them,” he said. “It will look double embarrassing when they are on the losing end.”
Nawabi said Gastelum won’t hold office for very long.
“I look forward to seeing him keeping to himself after we recall him,” he said.
