CAMPAIGN TO RECALL MAYOR TO START NEXT WEEK.

Byline: Helen Gao Staff Writer

GLENDALE - A group of local residents plans to begin circulating a petition next week to recall Mayor Gus Gomez, who ordered the American flag lowered at City Hall to commemorate victims of the Armenian Genocide.

Joe Mandoky, the recall leader, said his 10-member committee met over the weekend and expressed overwhelming support to forge ahead rather than drop the campaign - an option he had considered.

``Everybody felt there hasn't been any definite sign from the city that they are not going to lower the flag again,'' he said.

Mandoky noted that a council-appointed committee voted at its last meeting to approve several commemoration recommendations, none of which contained an explicit promise not to lower the flag in the future.

Recall supporters believe lowering the flag to recognize the Armenian Genocide violates the U.S. Flag Code. According to their interpretation, the gesture can be ordered only by the governor or the president to mark major national tragedies or the death of prominent figures.

Gomez has said in his own defense that he believes he acted properly in ordering the flag lowered to remind people of the genocide in hope such atrocities will never happen again.

Instead of using all 160 days allowed under the law to collect the required 16,565 signatures, Mandoky said his committee has set a two-month deadline for itself.

If the group used all the time allowed, the mayor would have finished most of his term by the time a recall election could be held, Mandoky noted.

After the signatures are submitted, the City Clerk's Office will have 30 days to verify them. If the petition is certified, the council then will have 14 days to schedule an election 88 to 125 days later.

Based on this timeline, Mandoky could force an election in January, more than a year before Gomez' term expires in April 2003.