In the small Solano County city of Suisun City, there is a push to recall not just one politician, but the entire city council. 

A group of concerned citizens wants to hit the reset button and completely start over when it comes to local leadership. 

"We all kind of came to the same conclusion that we're not seeing any progress. Basically, everything is walking backwards right now," said Brent Finger, a Suisun City resident since 1980 who is helping lead the recall effort. 

How would it move forward? 

On Aug. 19, James Berg, the main organizer of the recall push, officially served the city council with recall papers at their city council meeting. 

"Tonight is the pinnacle of frustration on behalf of Suisun City residents. We have an ineffective council that is being walked all over by city staff," Berg said during public comment at the meeting. 

The city of Suisun City says it has submitted its official response to the intent to recall. It is now up to the group of citizens to submit all necessary formal documents and circulate their petition. 

They need 20% of registered Suisun City voters to sign the petition in support, roughly 4,200 people, for the recall to move forward to a special election. 

Some of the citizen concerns cited are public safety, homelessness, road repair and a struggling downtown scene. 

In addition, some neighbors are also frustrated by the council's June decision to explore annexing a controversial new city by the group California Forever. 

"We hear you, we understand the concerns and the frustration and we're working towards solution. We invite you to be a part of the process," said Mayor Alma Hernandez, who also published a statement on social media in response to the recall. 

In defense of the council, Hernandez said each council member is in their first term and they are doing their best to address the issues facing the cash-strapped city. 

"This council inherited about decades worth of financial concerns and issues, but has taken up that challenge head on," said Hernandez. 

On the topic of homelessness, Finger said he is tired of hearing "excuses" from the council. 

Hernandez says they are taking a "multifaceted approach" to address the issue. 

"One of the things that we've done is we've added new outreach from a shelter service. We've test piloted a new security, private security to our downtown that we will be bringing back later this month to see if we have formal approval to continue. We have new outreach and ordinances to address the private property owners that have been negligent with their private properties in regards to the illegal encampments. We also work through the challenges of addressing illegal encampments in Caltrans jurisdiction or Union Pacific rail jurisdiction. Some of our community members are not aware that we sometimes don't have the authority to remove certain encampments," said Hernandez.  

Hernandez also said they recently "saved" the city by passing a new tax measure this past November. 

"We've seen how great our community can be when we come together to resolve issues for the betterment of our community," said Hernandez."  

At the council's most recent meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 2 a group of about two dozen community members addressed the council in public comment, saying they do not support the recall. 

"We stand united to show our support for our council," one neighbor said, which was met by applause. 

Hernandez says it is time to come together, not split apart. 

In addition, she says there is a potentially steep price tag for taxpayers that could amount to $500,000 if the recall special election moves forward. 

"We have had limited resources to address some of the community concerns themselves, and so to have to put taxpayer dollars of almost half a million dollars into this effort would really affect our services and our programs. We would have to look at what we would need to cut in regards to the public safety, public works, senior or youth programs to be able to fund this effort," said Hernandez. 

In response, Finger questioned whether it would actually cost that much money to move the effort forward. Regardless, he says it's a small price to pay for bettering Suisun City. 

"If something is not done now, a year from now, we're going to lose that times three in revenue from the City Council not taking care of what they need to take care of now," said Finger. "Sometimes you gotta spend money to make money. So if that, if that comes down to that, then, then so be it." 

The mayor says the earliest it is likely a recall special election could happen would be January 2026. 

She points out that the majority of the council seats are up for reelection in the November 2026 election and says that it is a better use of time and taxpayer money to wait and for citizens to make their voices heard either by casting their ballot or running for office themselves. 

"I believe strongly that we have a better pathway forward than a recall election," said Hernandez. 

For the group organizing the recall, there is no time to wait. 

"We can't afford another year of going backwards when we have the opportunity now to do something," said Finger. 

The group is hosting a recall community meeting Saturday at 2 p.m. at the Train 4 Life Center in Suisun City on Sunset Ave. 

Only Suisun City registered voters are qualified to both sign the petition and participate in any potential recall vote.