Failure of McGoldrick Recall to Qualify Should Give Proponents PausePaul Hogarthbyline‚ Jun. 26‚ 2007On June 22nd, business interests who want to recall Supervisor Jake McGoldrick failed to gather enough signatures to put it on the November ballot – falling about 1,000 signatures short. But proponents of this effort, which include the local Republican Party, told the San Francisco Examiner that they will now try for the February 2008 ballot. Because state law requires them to collect all 3,573 signatures in 120 days, proponents must complete the petition gathering by September 14th without having to start again from scratch. While that’s a doable goal (especially with the group’s financial resources and high-priced consultants), putting the recall on the same ballot as the Democratic presidential primary is a doomed strategy. Progressives will be voting in droves next year, so a campaign that urges the ouster of a Supervisor because he championed Healthy Saturdays in Golden Gate Park and a bus-only lane on Geary Boulevard will not get much traction. The June 2008 ballot should be more favorable, but by then McGoldrick will almost be out of office – which calls into question the sheer absurdity of such an endeavor. |