ORANGE COUNTY PERSPECTIVE : Outrageous Bid to Recall Allen

Last week the Republicans in the state Assembly achieved a part of their decade-long dream: They replaced Willie Brown (D-San Francisco) as Speaker. But that wasn’t good enough for them, so now there is talk of removing Brown’s replacement, Doris Allen (R-Cypress), even though Allen is a dyed-in-the-wool member of the GOP. The talk is not just of removing Allen from the speakership; it’s of removing her from the Assembly entirely. That’s a terrible idea.

Recall should be used like a surgeon’s scalpel, not a sledgehammer. Mental or physical incapacity, gross abuse of office, corruption--those are reasons for recall.

Disagreeing with someone’s vote on an issue or even a host of issues should not be grounds for recall. Removal can be accomplished in another way. It’s called a regularly scheduled election, and for Assembly members it is never more than two years away.

In Allen’s case, a recall makes even less sense. Due to term limits, she is in her final term. By the time signatures are gathered and an election is scheduled, she might have little more than a year left in the Assembly.

Another problem is cost. It’s easy enough for county Republican Party leaders around the state to stamp their feet in favor of removing someone they think is too cozy with Brown and the Democrats. But only Orange County is bankrupt. A special election to remove Allen could cost Orange County voters about $200,000. This is a county that lost an incredible $1.69 billion in risky investments last year; it should not have to waste $200 on a recall, let alone $200,000.

It is also difficult to believe that the criticism of Allen would have spread so widely if she were a man. Sure, there might have been some slighting references to a male Speaker who did not fit in with Sacramento’s good-old-boy jockocracy, but it is doubtful there would have been any barbs about the Speaker’s hairdo, as happened with Allen.

The Republicans need to settle their internal differences, not inflict them on everyone else. Learn to work with Allen or come up with the votes to replace her as Speaker. Leave the rest of us out of what is a party squabble.