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Proviso Probe

Sunday, September 09, 2007

should Illinois Constitution be amended to allow recall?

Rep. Jack Franks (D-Woodstock) has proposed an amendment to the Illinois Constitution that would allow recall of elected officials.

Franks is the "go to" guy when the media is looking for a Democrat to criticize Gov. Rod Blagojevich. In fact, often Franks doesn't wait for someone to ask him to criticize Blagojevich, he just does it.

HC0028 does include the possibility for recalling local officials including school board members.
Allows the General Assembly, by law, to provide for recall of officers of units of local government and school districts. Contains other provisions. Effective upon being declared adopted.

Would you amend the Illinois Constitution to allow recall of elected officials?

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posted by Carl Nyberg at 8:33 PM

9 Comments:

  • cARL,

    wHAT IS A RE-CALL? wILL IT HELP GET THE CRAPPY BOARD MEMBERS THAT WE NOW HAVE OUT OF OFFICE SO WE CAN HIRE TRUE PEOPLE TO RUN OUR VILLAGES AND SCHOOLS? CAN THIS EVEN GET PASSED IN SPRINGFIELD?

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 4:07 PM, September 10, 2007  

  • I worry the floodgates may be opened to far too much disputing whether the elected should remain so.

    By Blogger RetiredPastorNancy, at 4:54 PM, September 10, 2007  

  • I think the current system is fine, we don't need a recall amendment, we need educated voters. Dumb voted for the illinois democrats that run this state and dumber voted for the republicans that run the country.
    What is need are laws that over restrictive, prohibiting alternative parties.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 5:17 PM, September 10, 2007  

  • The recall option injects some unpredictability (maybe even chaos) into the system, so the question is whether the increased accountability is worth it.

    Most elected officials are subject to checks and balances. Legislators are counterbalanced by other legislators and another house, and ultimately by the governor (veto power) and the courts. The governor is counterbalanced to some extent by the legislature (veto overrides) and ultimately by the constitution as enforced by the courts. For many public officials there is a limit on how much damage one person can do. (This is not to say that one official cannot do some real damage, but the system will limit it -- maybe not to everyone's satisfaction, but the balances will kick in at some point.) So as much as we may want to get someone out of office NOW, the system still gives us some protection.

    Allowing recall also means officials will be more inclined to follow polls rather than exercise independent judgment. This is a two-edged sword. Sometimes politicians need to listen to the electorate more than they do; other times the officials have more information than the rest of us and should act on that basis. On balance, though, it seems that allowing recalls will lead to nonstop politicking, which may be fun for us political junkies but may not be the best way to run a government.

    At the purely local level, however, recalls are probably a good idea. Local officials can have a more immediate impact on our lives (schools, police, fire, etc.) and can screw things up pretty quickly. Also, for some reason, it seems a lot of unsuitable people can get elected to local office -- moreso than at the state level. Local recalls probably deserve some serious consideration.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 7:27 PM, September 10, 2007  

  • A recall is where you fess up that the wrong person was elected and you want to throw the bum out. Several other states use this process. It makes the elected leaders think how to retain their positions.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 9:19 PM, September 10, 2007  

  • I allowed a couple anonymous comments b/c I assume these people aren't Proviso Probe regulars.

    In the future pick a pseudonym.

    Thanks.

    By Blogger Carl Nyberg, at 11:59 AM, September 11, 2007  

  • It seems like a distinction should be made for offices that have removal procedures and those that don't.

    The governor can be impeached, but what about a member of the park district board?

    By Blogger Carl Nyberg, at 12:01 PM, September 11, 2007  

  • Yeah, maybe it should be generally allowed somehow to impeach.

    By Blogger RetiredPastorNancy, at 2:24 PM, September 11, 2007  

  • Recall elections are conceivably another way to put power back in the hands of citizens and voters throughout the state. It focuses on direct democracy and should be given as an option to the citizenry. California had a fairly successful and high profile recall of Gov. Gray Davis. Arnold Schwarzenegger even won again in the following election!

    I am highly supportive of giving voters a choice. If a public official stops representing The People, where is the mechanism to solve the problem? Do voters want to wait it out? Probably not.

    Capital Fax posted a blog concerning people's thoughts on this very subject. See for yourself:
    http://thecapitolfaxblog.com/2007/11/06/poll-majority-would-vote-to-recall-blagojevich/

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 5:25 PM, November 09, 2007  

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