The right of disgruntled citizens to file recall petitions to oust their elected governmental leaders may be an old American tradition, but it’s a right observed more in lore than in fact. Indeed, there are good reasons that recalls are exceedingly rare. Citizens who are thinking about supporting the recall petitions to oust Mayor Ron Littlefield and City Council members Jack Benson and Manny Rico should consider the consequences of such an action.
Recalls are rare because successful recall initiatives are hard to mount. They cost a lot of taxpayer money to reach a good end. If aggravated citizens are successful in hurdling the legal standards to recall an elected official, they have to pay, as taxpayers, for another election to fill the vacancies they would create.
It would cost tens of thousands of dollars to run a citywide election for another mayor. If the petition to recall the mayor failed to meet the legal criteria but the petitions to recall the two council members did, elections in either of those two districts would be proportionally expensive.
Recalls, moreover, are chancy, and they are not merited now. Interrupting Mayor Littlefield’s tenure at this juncture would be foolishly risky. Moreover, the grievances – a modest property tax increase, the first in eight years, and necessary sewer and stormwater runoff fees – do not rise to recall proportions.
Though we have disagreed with some of his policies and decision, ousting Littlefield now would upset a number of needed initiatives. Foremost are financial and land-use planning to advance the Volkswagen, Alstom and related plants and to cope with the resulting wave of growth.