First They Came For the School Board

The Los Angeles Times reportsthat recently, in response to the firing of a popular math teacher, SanFrancisco voters have attempted to recall not just one or two membersof the local school board, but the entire school board. It may be thefirst time that such a large recall measure has been put forward, andcertainly bespeaks the tense air of the moment, which makes the phrase"winter of discontent" look positively optimistic.

Ordinarily, a small election like this wouldn't have much relevanceon a statewide basis, but at a time when California's politicians arelooking so pitifully unprepared to deal with the budget crisis, thisbit of overzealous recall spirit should send chills down the spine ofSacramento. Especially the Republicans, whose admittedly obstructionist tactics have been provoking angry demands for recall elections since the end of November.Then again, the Democrats have much to worry about as well, since theLos Angeles Times has recently been putting forward panicked editorialsabout the Democratic willingness to gut transportation funds.

And then there's this- a vicious ultimatum printed in the editorial page of a majornewspaper. An ultimatum which has been described as "bizarre" by some commentators and which, like the school board recall effort, is thoroughly original. In a blistering editorial, the Timesproposes the following conditions to Sacramento: "How's this for aballot initiative: If we don't get one by June 15, we show our electedofficials the door." The editorial describes a proposal put forward byone Brad Morisoli for a ballot initiative which would end the term of every elected official in Sacramentoon June 15 if no budget compromise has been passed. Ordinarily, aproposition like this would be exiled by most "respectable" newssources to the abyss of irrelevance, where there is wailing and gnashing of teeth. But the fact that the Timeshas picked it up and run with it shows that there may be a real dangerposed to the Sacramento establishment, and that at last the politics ofobstruction and interest-juggling might be getting a well-deserved kick.

Now, as most long-time readers of this website know, I am no friend of direct democracy.And there is certainly room for criticism of this ballot measure on thegrounds that it is an exemplary instance of democratic overreach. Somehave even protested that the measure is an insult to California's Legislature because politicians are not children.At any other time, the warning to be wary of a barn-storming peasantrywould be quite well-merited. If politicians were acting with even aspeck more dignity, their honor as adults and politically engagedinstruments of compromise and balance would be worth defending.However, at a time when taxpayers get slips that say "we'll pay, we promise," Left-wingers start trotting out accusations about half-century old campaign tactics rather than dealing with problems and Republicans seem determined to shoot themselves in the foot, I have only one thing to say: citizens of California, oil your pitchforks.