Carlsbad Councilwoman Cori Schumacher submitted her letter of resignation Friday, ending her tumultuous tenure on the council immediately.
The city will release the next steps Friday, as the councilwoman from District 1 steps down, The Coast News reported. Calls to the city’s communications department were not immediately returned.
Schumacher, who was facing a recall movement funded and organized largely by Reform California — a conservative political action committee backed by Carl DeMaio — said in her newsletter she will be attending a university outside of San Diego County.
“It’s an opportunity I simply cannot refuse,” Schumacher wrote. “Unfortunately, this means that I am no longer able to continue in my role as your council member. And so, I have tendered my resignation to the city.”
Schumacher, a world champion surfer and political activist, was elected to the Carlsbad City Council in an at-large seat in 2016. In 2018, she lost a mayoral bid against then two-term incumbent Mayor Matt Hall. She won the District 1 seat in 2020 following Barbara Hamilton’s October resignation.
DeMaio, head of Reform California, a conservative radio talk show host and former San Diego City Council member, said some of Schumacher’s constituents came to him for help in the recall effort. Reform California needed to collect roughly 3,700 signatures to force a recall election against Schumacher and had until Sept. 8 to do so.
“I am pleased that Cori Schumacher’s resignation will give the citizens of Carlsbad a fresh start and a chance to put Schumacher’s misconduct behind them, so they can once again focus on the important issues that matter,” DeMaio said.
The recall backers faulted Schumacher for seeking to enforce social distancing restrictions during the height of the coronavirus pandemic and supposedly creating a “hostile environment” at city hall.
City News Service contributed to this article.