If you voted for the guy on the left, but you discovered that you got the guy on the right, would you want a do-over? We would.
Alderman Dave Schmidtzkrieg (1st ward) has asked that the city council Procedures and Regulations committee discuss the possibility of adopting a recall ordinance for elected officials. We also hear he is getting a lot of inside resistance to the idea of even discussing the issue publicly.
Now that the residents of Park Ridge have only one alderman per ward to represent them, we feel they should also have the opportunity for a do-over if that one alderman turns out to be an idiot.
The Procedures and Regulations committee chairman, Ald. James Allspaghetti (4th ward), now seems very concerned about "a small group of individuals" who may use such an ordinance to force an elected official to "endure another campaign before their term of office has ended."
That's very funny, or Ald. Allspaghetti is an idiot.
Alderman James Allspaghetti, after giving a campaign contribution to Mayor Frimark and then being appointed to his aldermanic seat by Mayor Frimark, and then giving the Mayor yet another campaign contribution, was one of only two aldermen on the city council who supported Mayor Frimark's referendum to cut the city council in half...which would have forced half of those aldermen to run another campaign before their term was up if they wanted to keep their seats. We feel the referendum to cut the city council in half was a referendum on that city council and a dishonest means of recalling those aldermen.
We feel an honest discussion of the issue of recalling elected officials is a discussion worth having.
Ald. Schmidtzkrieg is saying he didn't raise the issue because of what he's seen from and heard about 5th ward Benedict-Alderman, Robert Ryan. But if he had, we'd be okay with that.
October 17, 2007
Do-Over!
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5 comments:
We should never fear an open discussion of any issue.
I'm sure it's only a "coincidence" that the best qualified appointment Mayor Frimark could make to fill his own vacated Council seat was with a person who gave him a campaign contribution.
In any case, I agree...there should be nothing to fear from a discussion of issues.
I think people feel a little uncomfortable about this topic. It's uncharted territory in many ways. There is deep disappointment in the 5th Ward community about Alderman Ryan. And yet, and yet... it is difficult to move from that to an ouster mentality. I think it has to do with the deep-seated reliance our society has placed on the finality of a vote. On the other hand, we are all in a much different position now with only 7 alderman. I think many of us in the 5th Ward are so disgusted with Mr. Ryan's actions relating to executive plaza that we won't even feel comfortable going to him with concerns that have nothing to do with that project. And there is no other alderman to turn to. Also, each alderman's vote now carries so much weight, so if that alderman really isn't representing the interests of his constituents, the constituent's have lost their voice entirely. There's not even a chance to negate that vote with a counter vote from the other alderman that used to be there. I hope others will weigh in here on this.
There's nothing wrong with subjecting an alderman (or a mayor, for that matter) to a recall election - so long as the process requires a sufficiently high threshold of petition signatures to prevent small special interest groups from harassing officials they don't like or agree with. And if the alderman wins a recall vote he should be immunne from another one for at least one full year.
Anything that makes public officials - elected and appointed -more accountable to the citizens is a good thing. And a recall election does that.
Can that be extended to the police chief and deputy chief?
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