Dear Editor,
You may have heard about a proposed recall of Council Members Alex Fisch and Daniel Lee. The Culver City Democratic Club opposes this campaign. We urge you to not support it. If you have signed the petition, please consider contacting the City Clerk’s office at [email protected] to have your name removed.
The California Democratic Party, the largest Democratic organization after the national party, passed a resolution on August 29 condemning recalls as undemocratic. As we saw with Governor Newsom, it is not difficult for a small group of wealthy people to force a special election where fewer people will vote than a regular election. A successfully recalled official is replaced by whichever alternative gets the most votes so, if a majority votes to recall but votes are split among multiple replacements, someone could easily take office who got fewer votes than the person recalled. This is far less democratic than a direct matchup between a challenger and an incumbent.
Like gerrymandering and voter suppression, recalls are a tactic to preserve the power of a conservative minority against the popular vote. Californians have a legal right to seek a recall for any reason, or no reason, but this right is being abused by the right wing. Progressive officials have been targeted for recalls by conservatives who know they have a better chance in low-turnout special elections than in a regular election. Recalling either Council Member Alex Fisch or Daniel Lee would create a conservative majority for keeping the Inglewood Oil Field open, for ending bans on styrofoam and single-use plastics, and worse.
Fisch and Lee were elected with our Club’s endorsement and have been honest and powerful advocates for the platform and values of the Democratic Party. At our September 8, 2021 meeting, our members voted overwhelmingly to affirm our support for them and to oppose this recall. We hope you will join us. Don’t sign the petition, and please talk to your neighbors.
The Culver City Democratic Club
I’m all for the recall, and I’m not conservative. Maybe if progressive officials would stop ramming through idiotic and unnecessary reforms (many of which harm the very people they hilariously claim to support), smugly brushing off anyone who questions their actions, and selling the city out to corporate shysters, the poor babies would be left alone.