In today's column I consider the recall effort. For the most part I discuss the merits of Change Akron Now's arguments only to say that they mostly come down to policy disagreements, which generally aren't considered the stuff of a recall campaign. Mostly the column considers whether Akron should consider raising the threshold for getting a recall on the ballot. Surveying the recall laws in major cities in Ohio reveals that Akron has arguably the lowest threshold. This is from the column:
- Cleveland uses 20% of the total vote in the last municipal election.
- Parma uses 25% of the total vote in the preceding municipal election, as does Toledo, whose mayor is also fighting a recall effort.
- Dayton bases its threshold on the number of registered voters in the city. A recall effort needs 25% to reach the ballot.
- Columbus also sets the threshold as a percentage of registered voters, requiring 15%. As an additional barrier, Columbus does not allow petitions to be circulated; they are posted in firehouses and the city clerk’s office so that interested citizens must go to the petition to sign.
- Youngstown doesn’t peg the threshold to any variable, instead having set the threshold at a constant 5000 registered voters, which currently amounts to about six percent of the total population.
- Neither Canton nor Cincinnati currently allows for a recall, though the local NAACP in Cincinnati is currently spearheading a drive to add recall provisions there.
(BTW, if you want to follow the Toledo recall story, my friend Lisa Renee's local blog
Glass City Jungle is a good place to start.)
From there I make arguments in favor of a higher bar. Irate comment coming from Mendenhall in 3, 2, 1. . .
