A Few Thoughts on the Recall

Finally, on the third attempt, petitioners succeeded in filing paperwork to get started gathering signatures for a recall campaign. While I clearly think it's a foolish effort in several different ways, there is a possibility that this will be a learning opportunity for some Kansas Citians.

1. They need around 30,000 signatures, not 16,950. There's a huge difference between a petition signature and a valid petition signature. The recall campaign has already demonstrated that fact when it took NINE people signing the originating documents to get 5 valid signatures. Applying their success ratio to the petition itself, that makes their goal 30,510 signatures to get the bare minimum of 16,950. That's an awful lot of signatures in 30 days - about a thousand a day. How many do you think they got yesterday? How many do you think they'll get today - in the rain and sleet? The extended forecast shows only two days over 50 degrees. Tuesday might be a good day for them, with the primary, but I expect a lot of the primary voters to be pretty well-informed, and thus unlikely to join in this foolish effort. Personally, I look forward to engaging any poll worker I see in a thorough conversation about the issues and my perspectives on them - I betcha I can shut down his or her signature-gathering for at least 15 prime-time minutes . . .

2. The Petition won't hold up in Court. The standard for recall in Kansas City is set forth in the Kansas City Municipal Code:

Grounds for recall must relate to and affect the administration of the officials office, and be of a substantial nature directly affecting the rights and interests of the public. Grounds for recall are limited to objective reasons which reasonable people, regardless of their political persuasion, could agree would render any officials performance ineffective, which must be an act of misfeasance, the improper performance of some act which may lawfully be done, or malfeasance, the commission of some act wholly beyond the officials authority, or nonfeasance, the failure to perform a required duty.

Now, I realize that there are a lot of emotional and strident anti-Mayor agitators, but, in a court of law, a judge is going to wind up looking at the language of the Affadavit and see if it meets that standard. Here's the affidavit - feel free to go read it, and ponder whether you would want to present that case to a judge. I'm not going to make fun of the people who wrote it - I'm sure they're sincere and well-meaning - but there are logical lapses and faulty analyses throughout it. It is not a serious political or legal document, and a court of law is not the comment section of a joke blog.

3. Please bring it on. In some ways (and I am only speaking for myself, as always), I'm glad to see this happening. It amounts to calling the bluff of the chattering handful that have crowded out intelligent discussion at the Prime Buzz, and the joke blogger who will be working on the effort. After this is over, the city will get to see just how widespread and deep the opposition to Funk really is. If the recall is successful, I pledge to move forward and not look back. If the recall is unsuccessful, perhaps, just maybe, the chattering handful of political WATBs and blustering malcontents will finally realize that the people of Kansas City elected Mayor Funkhouser, and he stands ready to focus on issues of substance and improving the lives of regular Kansas Citians. Perhaps, just maybe, the people who have spent so much time and effort in attacking and deriding the Mayor will refocus their effort on helping achieve his priorities.