San Clemente City Councilman Gene James announced his resignation from the council in an April 26 farewell letter. His last day was April 28.
James, whose term was set to expire next November, said in the letter he plans to sell his home on Avenida Del Verdor in San Clemente and move to Wyoming where he can “embark on a different adventure and pursue our retirement dreams,” in a state, he said, has less restrictive water rights and rights to possess firearms.
“As I look at how the Democrats in Sacramento are determined to create a socialist nightmare for the state, I have come to the conclusion that we in City government, have very little power to stop the progressives,” James wrote.
During his nearly four years on the council, he helped remove the city from the county Toll Roads Agency, opposed lockdowns during the COVID-19 pandemic, made the city a sanctuary for Second Amendment rights, and supported a failed citywide abortion ban.
More recently, James favored hiring private security to remove the homeless from city beaches, a proposal the remaining council will consider next month.
Before announcing his departure, James emailed Elizabeth Andrade—the CEO of Family Assistance Ministries, a nonprofit to aid the homeless—informing her that his house would be sold in a week and he would use the organization as his mailing address to remain on council, since he said he would be living out of a “derelict” RV in various spots around the city.
According to James, the city attorney confirmed his living arrangements in an RV would fulfill his residency requirements as a councilman.
James wrote to Andrade in the email, “Thank you for ALL you do and for the help you will provide me as a homeless person.”
James later told The Epoch Times in an email his comment about living in an RV was a “tongue in cheek comment to show the ridiculousness that the city is responsible to care for the vagrants who litter our beach.”
