SAN DIEGO COUNTY PERSPECTIVE : Why Recall Is No Panacea

When Oceanside voters decide Tuesday whether to remove Councilwoman Melba Bishop, they should look to the future rather than the past. How can future turmoil be minimized and healing facilitated?

Oceanside city government has been under siege for more than a year. Bishop and the new majority that emerged in last fall’s elections have contributed substantially to the turmoil. But the nasty recall campaign has caused at least as much disruption to city government, and that could have been avoided if opponents had just waited one year until Bishop’s term expires.

The campaign’s damage cannot be undone. But removing Bishop will not calm the storm. It will extend it. Until a replacement is named or elected--a question also on Tuesday’s ballot--the council is likely to deadlock on many issues. For the same reason, appointing a replacement seems unlikely. And electing a replacement takes time and will be costly--with little benefit. Whoever replaces Bishop will serve only one year.

The actual question of whether Bishop should be on the council is grayer.

She and the two other council members in the majority swiftly gutted the status quo in a heavy-handed manner when they assumed power. They pulled the mayor--now on the losing side of many City Council decisions--off the San Diego Assn. of Governments board. They fired four of seven planning commissioners and consolidated dozens of committees and commissions, resulting in the “firing” of scores of citizen advisers. The police chief resigned under pressure.

And even before Bishop was in the majority on the council, she was accused of meddling in the day-to-day affairs of City Hall in a way that encouraged the resignations of a city manager and the redevelopment director. Other more serious accusations--that the majority has violated the state’s open meeting law and that Bishop has won preferential treatment for family members--remain unproven.

But much of the city’s turmoil stems from severe budget problems, which were not of Bishop’s making. If anything, she was a voice of fiscal restraint.

Recall should be reserved for extreme circumstances, like malfeasance. Bishop’s future as an elected official should be decided in next fall’s election.

We recommend a “no” vote on the recall and urge the whole Oceanside council to find a more conciliatory approach to conducting the public’s business.