OPINION & EDITORIAL
Total Recall
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Also by Badger Herald Editorial Board:
- A security fee-for-all (December 11, 2007)
- Farewell, Chancellor (December 10, 2007)
- $$FC (December 6, 2007)
- In a bind (December 5, 2007)
- Entitlement Town (December 4, 2007)
Related Stories:
- Recall ends, but CRG continues fight (December 13, 2005)
- Mayor abandons principles for power (March 28, 2007)
- Unproductive politics reign supreme (December 1, 2005)
- Bait and switch (December 2, 2003)
- Recall wrong way to go (September 18, 2003)
by Badger Herald Editorial Board
Thursday, October 20, 2005
With the current effort of some Madisonians to recall Mayor Dave Cieslewicz, a rather simple principle of representative democracy is being brushed to the side all too casually: elections have consequences. The performance of Mr. Cieslewicz in office to date has in no way differed from the image he offered voters during his campaign; his philosophy has been consistent, his politics notably public and his regard for the city rarely in question.
Should the mayor have proved malicious, conniving, incompetent or unwilling to perform his job, a recall would be in perfect order. But such processes, while on the books, are things intended to only be summoned in the most dire of circumstances, and we simply do not see Mr. Cieslewicz's helmsmanship of Madison to be one such scenario.
To be sure, much of this city's agenda of late has been intellectually misguided. This board has vocally opposed both the increased minimum wage and smoking ordinance as being counter-productive molestations of market forces that only serve to harm business. That these prophesies have come true is tragic and that Mr. Cieslewicz never had the foresight to put his foot down and attempt to stop them is most disturbing. But these are issues that should be raised in the next mayoral election, not an ad hoc radical attempt at prying an otherwise sincere — if occasionally misguided — man from the city's top office.
We can only hope that this veritable fiasco will offer a wake-up call of sorts for both Mr. Cieslewicz and the city's various council members. To hear ultra-radical alders like Brenda Konkel, District 2, rush to the mayor's defense not on grounds that his policies serve a greater good, but rather, laughably, on grounds that his policies are not anti-business, is disturbing. The reality is that Ms. Konkel and some of her hyperbolic brethren governing the Common Council from within their own private bubbles of Debbsian utopia have been largely responsible for getting the mayor into this jam. And rather than circling the wagons and attempting to save face, they would do well to acknowledge the obvious errors of their policies — ideas perfect on paper and disturbingly flawed in implementation — and start back-pedaling toward a sensible stance for the business community.
While neither the mayor nor any of the city's alders should be recalled for these misguided efforts, we do sincerely hope they realize elections are a mere 18 months away.
After all, elections have consequences.
Anonymous (October 20, 2005 @ 7:31am):
1) You felt the need to say this twice?
2) Brenda Konkel-as-boogeyman doesn't work on campus like it does in the 'burbs - we like her because we care about tenants' rights.
3) This recall isn't even newsworthy, and Cieslewicz is going to be re-elected overwhelmingly, despite the Badger Herald endorsing a right-wing crackpot long-shot candidate against him.
4) The campus OVERWHELMINGLY supported the minimum wage, and just 'cause a lot of us didn't like the smoking ban, your effort to conflate what was a terrifically popular issue with what is not is a desperate re-write of history. Do a poll of 264 phone numbers and if more than a fifth of respondents reject increasing the minimum wage, I'll sign the damn recall petition!
Anonymous (October 20, 2005 @ 11:54am):
Like the other poster said (or meant); this recall, like the smoking ban recall is nothing more than a few people who didnt get their way making a big noise. The smoking ban has been popular amonst most people who arent on the BH board (or that vapid douche bag Marsh Shapiro) and the objections have been from a small number of people. If people dont like Dave than they should tell him with thier votes, not with a childish "I didn't get my way" recall effort. Hell if that would be appropriate half the country would be recalling the president; you have to live with the votes in a democracy, and Dave was elected and has acted according to the policies he advocated when he ran. Maybe the prosmokers and slave labor wage supporters will vote next time.
Z
Anonymous (October 20, 2005 @ 3:20pm):
Well said BH board.
Anonymous (October 21, 2005 @ 4:59pm):
"3) This recall isn't even newsworthy, and Cieslewicz is going to be re-elected overwhelmingly, despite the Badger Herald endorsing a right-wing crackpot long-shot candidate against him."
And perhaps in part because of it. A wise voter would read what the BH editorial board think, then vote for the other candidate.
