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Robert Price: Recall election delay just might be bad news for Ken Weir
| Saturday, Jun 28 2008 8:19 PM
Last Updated: Thursday, Jul 17 2008 11:34 AM
To some, it might look like Ken Weir is suddenly off the hook. The folks campaigning to recall the Bakersfield city councilman have admitted they're struggling, within the narrow time frame they've been given, to collect enough signatures to qualify for the November ballot.
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Give the recall proponents another month or so and, sure, a Weir referendum could most likely come together. But 4,108 verified signatures by early this week? Collected door-to-door? In this heat? Not a chance.
That's good news for the embattled councilman and his allies from the no-restrictions-on-development camp -- isn't it? Actually, no. The opposite may be true.
The Committee to Recall Ken Weir, faced with sharing the Nov. 4 ballot with presidential candidates, congressmen, a possible same-sex marriage constitutional amendment and a long and ever-growing list of state propositions, may opt for a special election instead, maybe next March.
The committee's only real concern, says recall co-chairman Will Winn, is the bill a special election would foist on local government. Of course, settling the recall question in November would cost the city perhaps $25,000, same as the scheduled Ward 5 and Ward 6 elections. If the difference between the two potential election dates turns out to be sufficiently negligible, recall proponents will keep moving forward. At this juncture, that's the plan.
In any case, the special-election route has several advantages over a November ballot placement. Do they effectively counter the cost difference? Well, consider:
* The November ballot is, as noted previously, jam-packed with issues that will drive people to the polls. These issues include several divisive ones that are sure to bring out conservative folks who are most likely to be swayed by Weir's argument that his recall is simply fueled by greedy unions, enviro-freaks and land-grabbers. In truth, of course, it's a bunch of ordinary citizens, many of them conservatives, who simply object to Weir's reckless, ham-handed, irresponsible, arrogant wielding of power.
Given the full slate of candidates and issues, it might be best to avoid the November election and consider the Weir recall after the dust settles.
* Weir's awkward (and ultimately unsuccessful) attempt to remove a perfectly competent planning commissioner, Russell Johnson, seems to have sparked the recall effort, but there's another motivation -- not unrelated to the first.
Though he's loath to come right out and say so, Weir appears adamantly opposed to Bakersfield's Hillside Ordinance, particularly as it applies to Sacramento land developer General Holding, the main partner in The Canyons project. (One of the others is Gordon Downs, whom Weir, a CPA, dropped as a client shortly before he took office in late 2006.)
The Bakersfield City Council will reconsider both the ordinance and The Canyons project later this year -- perhaps while signatures are being collected, or a recall election is pending. Weir will either show his "true colors" on those issues and further alienate Ward 3 residents or he will sideline himself.
* In addition to Weir's vote on those two volatile issues, he will have to cast his votes and choose his positions very carefully while he is under the recall microscope. Maybe he will become a more thoughtful Ward 3 representative as a result.
* Weir and his pals will say that the special election is a colossal waste of taxpayers' money at a time we call ill afford it. That reminds us of another recall -- that of Gov. Gray Davis in 2003. Although the state's budget was in the tank, Republicans moved ahead -- with Davis and the Democrats bitterly complaining about the wasted $70 million.
The Republican response? The recall's price tag is merely an investment in good government. Among those blowing that horn: Mark Abernathy, who helped qualify the Davis recall for the ballot. Yes, that's the same Mark Abernathy who is Weir's political consultant. Does he still think a recall can be an investment in good government?
* The less-stressful timetable will give possible replacement candidates more time to decide whether to run and, if necessary, to develop a strategy.
All things considered, it might be best for Weir's allies to print up some of those recall petitions and start going door-to-door themselves. Getting that sucker on the ballot this November might be Weir's best shot at political survival.
Reach Robert Price at 395-7399 or rprice@bakersfield.com.