In Michigan if we elect somebody to public office and they fail to perform in an appropriate manner, we mount recall campaigns against them The governor and the mayor of Detroit have both been targets of these campaigns. Why do the pols in Washington seem to do as they please without any fear of public outrage and action?

-- Diane Portuesi (ddmp9898@aol.com), November 23, 1999

Answers

Yes, Washington has statutory recall. However, there is a very exacting standard for both the charge and having an adequate factual basis of actual misconduct. The Court reviews the adequacy of the charge and sufficiency of the evidence to sustain the charge before one can even begin gathering signatures on a recall petition. Take a look at chapter 29.82 RCW at the following location: http://www.mrsc.org/cgi-bin/om_cgi.exe? &infobase=rcw.nfo&softpage=Browse_Frame_Pg42

But you must look at Washington Supreme Court cases to get the true flavor of how difficult recall is. Check out the case of In re Recall of Pearsall-Stipek, 136 Wn.2d 255, 961 P.2d 343 (1998) for example. The court will not allow a recall petition to go forward with a charge that an elected official exercised his/her discretion poorly. That is what elections every two or four years are for.

-- David (unified@whidbey.net), November 24, 1999.

Personally, I find recalling the politicians rather boring, and it just gets my blood pressure up. I'd rather recall something like, the first time I went to the beach, or that trip to Victoria, last year. That was fun.

-- Paul Oss (jnaut@earthlink.net), November 24, 1999.

Not only is it difficult to recall elected officials, but it is also virtually impossible to unelect an incumbent no matter how egregious their behavior. When King County voters rejected coercive financing of the baseball stadium, our couragious governor called an emergency session of the legislature, which vetoed the voters decision and raised the price of taxpayer financing of this corporate welfare. But were those legislators who voted against the people booted out? Nope! Even in the districts that voted most against the stadium, the blighters who "represent" the people were returned to office. We need a fast, easy, efficient process to recall those who don't listen to us. Are they listening to us now that we have screamed I-695 into their hearing aids?

-- Art Rathjen (liberty@coastaccess.com), November 24, 1999.