Recall wrong way to address Dalton concerns
Seven years ago, a group of citizens launched a furious recall campaign against Coeur d’Alene Mayor Sandi Bloem and council members Mike Kennedy, Woody McEvers and Deanna Goodlander. While the recall effort failed because its leaders didn’t gather enough signatures to get it on a ballot, some citizens would say the raw wounds on both sides have never completely healed.
A recall election should be the very last option to right an overwhelming wrong or to prevent a disaster from happening. Recall campaigns divide communities, pitting neighbor against neighbor far more than do regular elections, particularly those nonpartisan in nature.
Dalton Gardens stands at that crossroads.
If you’ve been reading The Press, you’ve seen every argument for and against recalling Mayor Steve Roberge and all four council members. This editorial will not take a stance on the merits of specific complaints about the leaders of Dalton, a serene, deer-blessed, rustic community of 2,400 that borders Coeur d’Alene and Hayden yet feels far afield. This editorial will instead urge Dalton voters to reject the recall attempt on March 12 because there are better ways to effect change.
The most obvious is waiting a mere eight months. If it’s change residents want, then vote against Roberge and council members Jamie Smith and Scott Jordan in the regular November election if they choose to run again. In that way, the balance of power can be shifted without sacrificing community spirit.
Neither of the two central issues cited most by council critics, a legal dispute over the subdivision of a property and a possible project on the city’s central thoroughfare, Fourth Street, is going to have an immediate impact on the community’s long-term trajectory. In other words, no urgency exists to warrant a recall election of the city’s entire governing body. With the certainty of discrediting and shaming community servants who might not deserve either, the only absolute a successful recall election would generate is the uncertainty of the next group of leaders.
Gov. Brad Little would appoint the replacements. While the newly anointed state commander in chief has excellent judgment, he would rely heavily on the recommendations of others who may or may not have Dalton’s very best interests in mind. Supporting the recall effort could very well damage the community more than would increased dialogue and constructive efforts to understand each other’s viewpoints.
As outsiders ourselves — none of the four members of this newspaper’s editorial board resides in Dalton Gardens — we have no vote on the matter at hand. But like so many others, we adore this otherwise tranquil community and wish for it only the best. And the best clearly will not be attained by taking down the mayor and City Council on March 12.
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Press editorials are written by Managing Editor Mike Patrick. The other editorial board members are Publisher Clint Schroeder and newspaper owners Duane B. Hagadone and Brad Hagadone.