Recalls: Single-Issue Politics at Its Worst : Efforts to Oust Officials Are Expensive and Divisive

The Cypress City Council passed its city budget recently with one item that should not have been needed and which council members certainly did not want. The last-minute addition: $61,000 for a special election to recall the mayor and at least one council member, perhaps two.

In Irvine, too, petitioners were out seeking signatures last weekend to recall the mayor and some council members because they voted to borrow money to invest in the county’s pool, which went bad and led to bankruptcy. The two cities are but the latest to have been swept by recall fever, an often-mindless, knee-jerk reaction to one issue and one vote by men and women elected to decide a wide variety of matters. The time to punish elected officials is during regularly scheduled elections, except in extraordinary circumstances. Recalls are expensive, divisive and an example of single-issue politics at its worst.

The hot-button issue in Cypress was the council’s vote last Sept. 26 to allow a carpet warehouse to be built in the city. Neighbors were outraged and unsuccessfully challenged the plan in court. Now comes the recall attempt.

Making matters worse is the fact that the terms of the mayor, Cecilia L. Age, and the council member, Gail H. Kerry, expire next year. Why not challenge them then? Age must leave office after this stint anyway because of term limits.

Recall mania soared last month after the defeat of Measure R, the half-cent sales tax increase to help Orange County recover from bankruptcy. In most instances, wiser heads prevailed, but it was amazing that some people announced their hopes of recalling Sheriff Brad Gates from office because of his prominent role in supporting the tax increase. Polls have shown Gates to be popular with voters, and his foes would have had a tough job even getting enough signatures to get a recall on the ballot.

Still, some in the Committees of Correspondence, a coalition of groups that helped fight the tax measure, were talking of recalling Gates and Supervisor Marian Bergeson, among others. Bergeson was not even a supervisor when the county declared bankruptcy. Her transgression in the eyes of some Committees of Correspondence members simply was her support of Measure R. That falls woefully short of the threshold that should be required before spending what in that case would be hundreds of thousands of dollars on a recall. After all, the county remains bankrupt.

Equally foolish is talk of cutting the sales tax, with the county having lost an incredible $1.7 billion and trying to figure out ways of repaying vendors, buyers of its bonds and public agencies that invested in its fund. The county needs every penny it can get.

The classic example of wasting money on recalls occurred in Fullerton last year. Voters removed three council members in June in a campaign that began after their vote for a 2% utility tax to balance the city budget. In October, three replacements were voted in, although two of them had to run again the next month because the terms they were filling were about to expire. In November, one of the three newcomers was voted out of office, replaced by one of those who had been recalled in June. It cost Fullerton residents $300,000 or more, a waste of money.

There are valid reasons for recalls, such as mental incapacity. But this is a weapon to be used only rarely. It should not be used at the drop of a hat and out of pique, and certainly not in instances where elected representatives try to do the right thing even though it may not be popular.