The right to recall is pro-democracy

The Baltimore Sun’s recent editorial, “How to make Baltimore ungovernable: Add recall elections to the political mix” (March 13), reads like a screed against the editorial board’s enemies list: Republicans, Sinclair Broadcasting, citizens demanding competency from their elected officials and white suburbanites who shun Baltimore due to unabated violent crime.

Recall elections allow voters the opportunity to tell an elected official “we hired you to do a job, and we do not think you are doing it very well.” The editorial board makes much of the unsuccessful recall effort on California Gov. Gavin Newsom. However, the board fails to mention the successful recall effort last year lead by citizen groups in San Francisco, a bastion of liberalism, that forced from office District Attorney Chesa Boudin who presided over ever-increasing crime, open air drug dealing and squalor in the streets with seemingly little concern.

Many organizations hire new staff on a probationary period. Why not elected officials?

Recall elections are a historic piece of the democratic process. Concerned citizens want more control over their governments. I refer The Sun’s editorial board to last year’s approval of term limits by 72% of Baltimore voters. The potential for a recall effort can help bring about transparency and responsiveness from an elected official.

As a self-proclaimed defender of democracy, The Sun’s editorial board should be more attuned to giving voters more influence, not less, on how their government operates and how their tax dollars are spent.