Weiss strikes back
Councilman Jack Weiss has enlisted Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, former Mayor Richard Riordan and other of the city's heavy hitters to help him fend off a recall attempt. Weiss' team put out their formal recall response Monday and it says:
"WARNING TO VOTERS: SIGNING THIS PETITION WILL COST YOU AND YOUR FELLOW TAXPAYERS $1.5 MILLION FOR AN UNNECESSARY SPECIAL ELECTION" (their excessive caps, not mine)
The message and pleas from Villaraigosa and others to "Please don't sign this petition" will appear on the paperwork recall supporters must circulate and get signed to qualify for the ballot. Supporters need about 23,000 signatures.
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About The
Sausage Factory
Los Angeles Daily News City Hall reporter Rick Orlov writes about politics on the local, state and national stage.
This is a valid financial point, and not as obvious to potential signers as it may seem. The recall people have said to those disinclined that it's really a referendum on overdevelopment on the westside and in L A as a whole, and after they go after Weiss, they'll go after anyone else whose district has had any controversial building: i.e., virtually every other councilmember, the mayor, planning commission, etc.
It would be extremely misleading for shoppers at a mall to just sign something they don't understand the implications of, based on this gross misrepresentation. The pretexts stated in the petition are clumsily worded to cover up the fact that they want to force a referendum on traffic issues in general, and they have targeted someone who's not caving in to their own clumsy efforts as so-called local leaders (who really are just an insular core of people) to shake down a big developer. A recall drive is in fact a very expensive, divisive and unpleasant business for the whole city, and diverts the councilmember/ subjects from doing their job. It is a gross misrepresentation of democracy to misuse the process as this recall drive intends.
This is a valid financial point, and not as obvious to potential signers as it may seem. The recall people have said to those disinclined that it's really a referendum on overdevelopment on the westside and in L A as a whole, and after they go after Weiss, they'll go after anyone else whose district has had any controversial building: i.e., virtually every other councilmember, the mayor, planning commission, etc.
It would be extremely misleading for shoppers at a mall to just sign something they don't understand the implications of, based on this gross misrepresentation. The pretexts stated in the petition are clumsily worded to cover up the fact that they want to force a referendum on traffic issues in general, and they have targeted someone who's not caving in to their own clumsy efforts as so-called local leaders (who really are just an insular core of people) to shake down a big developer. A recall drive is in fact a very expensive, divisive and unpleasant business for the whole city, and diverts the councilmember/ subjects from doing their job. It is a gross misrepresentation of democracy to misuse the process as this recall drive intends.