Simple Dislike Isn’t a Reason for Recall : * Recent Efforts Are Wrongly Motivated by Single Issues

The recall mania that has swept Orange County in recent years unfortunately shows no sign of abating. Recall is a justifiable weapon against elected officeholders convicted of crimes or clearly unable to perform their jobs due to mental or physical disability. But it too often has been used simply because one group does not like one politician or another.

This month the Anaheim Police Assn. voted to begin a recall effort against Mayor Tom Daly. The police union president accused Daly of not supporting public safety in the city, and contended the mayor was spending too much time trying to keep the Los Angeles Rams football team in Anaheim and negotiating with the Walt Disney Co. over its expansion in the city.

Daly contended that he was on the side of the police--what politician is going to proclaim himself against public safety?--and said the action was a fallout of tough negotiations between the city and union over pay raises for police.

In Westminster, the firefighters’ union is spearheading the recall of three City Council members and the mayor, a reaction against last year’s council passage of a plan to reform the Fire Department in an effort to cut costs. The Westminster city clerk estimated the cost of putting the recall on the June ballot at $40,000. If the recall is successful, a special election will be required, at additional cost. Worse, the extra balloting would gain only months: two of the council seats are on the ballot in November; so is that of the mayor, who serves only a two-year term.

The same is true in Fullerton, where the terms of two of the three council members targeted for recall in June expire at the end of this year. The duo and a third councilman voted to increase a utility tax. The city clerk was targeted for allegedly delaying the recall.

Police and fire unions throughout the county traditionally have been potent political forces, and politicians eagerly solicit their endorsements. But the time to register favor or disfavor with elected officials, absent such things as criminal activity or disability, is at regularly scheduled elections.

Without judging the merits of the underlying claims for and against Daly or in Westminster or Fullerton, the recall campaigns are motivated by single-issue politics. Politicians have a broad array of constituents to serve, not just special-interest groups. When anyone upset with one decision launches a recall campaign, it makes a mockery of government. This is a representative democracy; things are too complex to submit every single issue to a public referendum.

In fewer than four years, there have been nearly two dozen recall attempts in the county aimed at council people or school board members. That is far too many, even though the overwhelming majority failed to get on the ballot and none passed.

But even when they fail, recall attempts divert the attention of targeted officeholders. Rather than concentrate on the issues at hand, politicians must spend excessive time justifying their actions and raising funds to battle their foes. Fund raising takes far too much time for far too many politicians in the regular election cycles; forcing officeholders to solicit donations before their time is worse.

The elections are expensive for the public, too, especially if they occur when no other local race is on the ballot, as in Westminster in June. The threshold for recall elections should be higher than simple dislike of one or two decisions. Save a potent weapon for use when really needed.