I'd like to bring everyone's attention to some of the lessons I've learned while sitting at outdoor card tables getting signatures to put Hall's recall on the November ballot. And let's be perfectly clear about that—the petition is not a recall itself. It is simply to put the issue on the ballot as part of the November general election.
First lesson, harassment: Randy's supporters complained to our local postmaster to make us move the table 20 feet and be outside the physical limit of post office property. Then complaints to the KPD followed that we were "obstructing traffic." Then a "spy" came by trying to learn exactly how many signatures we had collected; when that failed he observed from a distance and reported on our actions by cell phone (to the KGB?). Ketchum is no place for a police state; I thought totalitarianism went out with the Politburo. What next, the Gulag?
Another lesson: Quite a number of people are unhappy with Hall but say "he only has 16 months to go, why bother with a recall election?" Would some of those same people refuse to sign a petition removing "W" immediately from office if given the opportunity? And then the surprising number of public employees, business people and real estate agents who expressed their fear of "retaliation" or other public censure for signing a document, a document that merely puts the issue to a vote by his constituents, a vote that for the first time will force Hall to prove the consensus-building, transparency and accountability he promised when running for office.
As for the Mountain Express: Please check your archived issues and see whether he has even feebly fulfilled these promises or observed Ketchum's comprehensive plan. Why the sudden decision to now go public in a town meeting and answer questions when he has not done so for months and months? Why the timing that coincides with Janet Dunbar's plans for a town meeting at that time? Why the timing that coincides with the time limit for collecting signatures? And why are the big-money people and commercial interests, including the Mountain Express, fighting the recall so vehemently? Ask yourself who is really leading the fight against the recall, and why!
Gary Hoffman
Ketchum
