April 25, 2011

"There's a lot of anger out in the country. Add the new social media, and the budgetary crisis many cities face and you-ve got what I call recall fever racing across the country," stated Conference of Mayors CEO and Executive Director Tom Cochran in unveiling a new Conference of Mayors produced documentary Recall Fever. Premiered on April 12 at the National Press Club in Washington (DC), the event featured Cochran and the three mayors featured in the documentary: Akron Mayor Donald L. Plusquellic, Chattanooga Mayor Ron Littlefield, and Omaha Mayor Jim Suttle – all of whom faced and survived recalls. (To view the documentary online, go to http://www.usmayors.org/recallfever).

"In these challenging economic times, many local leaders around the country who have done nothing illegal are finding themselves the targets of angry voters who are expressing their feelings-often in destructive ways-about budget cuts or other issues at the ballot box. We have produced this documentary not only educate our mayors, but also, to help educate the general public about the economic and political costs of recall elections," stated Cochran.

"The current recall trend distracts elected officials from finding real solutions in a tough economy," said Suttle, who survived a recall election that was initiated one hour after he was declared the victor in the general election. "It turns the focus to partisan politicking and waste taxpayers time and money." Besides the economic costs of conducting a special election, Suttle pointed out, there is an economic loss to the city. "Things tend to get turned off at city hall during the recall time. My city lost 60 days of business capital time when we should have been focusing on getting jobs and businesses in our city."

"If you become unhappy about things that have to be done, take it out at the next election", stated Plusquellic. "The recall seems to be the newest instant gratification pill by some of the negative naysayers in the country. It makes it very difficult and it's one of the reasons why a lot of people refuse to run for political office. Mayors need to look at their recall statutes. Often the threshold is low." In Akron, it only required a little over 3,000 signatures out of some 300,000 registered voters to obtain a recall election.

In most cases, recalls are not based on allegations of criminal wrongdoing, but rather voter anger and frustration. "Signing the Mayors Climate Protection Agreement was used against me," stated Littlefield. "People thought I was against the use of air conditioning." The recall against Littlefield began when he was forced to raise water and sewer rates in order to comply with an Environmental Protection Agency mandate. "We need more specific laws on why you can be recalled," he said.

As the documentary points out, there are commonalities that connect the recall battles that are happening nationwide. In almost every case, the mayors proposed tax increases. In the successful recall of Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Alvarez last month, the issues centered on increased taxes and raises for public employees. In addition, there is the presence of a strong Tea Party movement, an active coalition of bloggers and wealthy individuals to bankroll the efforts. "Armed with all the new tools of electronic communication, a handful of people can run a successful recall campaign", stated Cochran. "It has become too easy and it's doing a lot of damage. Mayors need to use and be aware of these new social media tools. Hire a blogger and get on twitter to counter all the stuff going out on the internet."

"Mayors need to hire a strong press and media person," added Suttle. "That person needs to maximize all the social media tools."

Ballotpedia, a nonprofit that tracks recall elections, has identified 57 mayors who faced recall attempts last year, up from 23 in 2009. Out of 57 mayoral recall attempts in 2010, only 15 resulted in a mayor resigning or losing office. Already this year, 15 mayors have faced recall efforts.

Thirty-eight states allow citizens to recall local officials but there are no over-arching, consistent, laws to govern them. Some statutes require citizens to cite specific reasons for the recall, such as malfeasance or incompetence, while others give far greater latitude and have a relatively low threshold. Moreover, some localities have rules that differ from, and conflict with, those of the state.