Editorial: Recall effort against Guinn is dead wrong

Thursday, Aug. 28, 2003 | 8:55 a.m.

The recall effort just begun against Gov. Kenny Guinn is being conducted by a few people with extreme views, and we are confident the vast majority of Nevadans will refuse to participate. In November, 71 percent of the voters chose Guinn as their governor for a second term. While a recall election may be warranted on rare occasions, it is not warranted in the case of Guinn. Recalling a competent governor over a policy disagreement is not only dead wrong, it is potentially destructive to our representative form of government.

Fringe activists Tony Dane and Chris Hansen, who are leaders in the misguided effort to recall Guinn, are angry with the governor over his support for new and higher taxes during the 2003 Legislature. This is hardly reason for a recall election. Guinn was right in agreeing with his Task Force on Tax Policy, which concluded, after a year of study and hearings, that increased taxes were necessary. The task force said the increase was needed to make up for a shortfall in funds to pay for services, primarily education, vital to residents of a state whose population has nearly doubled in just a dozen years.

Leaders of California's recall effort had a $38 billion state deficit on which to build momentum. They managed to persuade petition signers that the deficit and employment losses were the result of ineptitude on the part of Gov. Gray Davis. Similar claims, if made in Nevada, could not stand up to scrutiny. Nevada now has a balanced budget and a healthy business climate. Additionally, it remains one of the lowest-taxed states in the nation.

Even those Nevada business leaders who opposed the governor's specific tax increase proposals generally supported the need for a substantial increase, and in July the Legislature ultimately approved one. Ray Bacon, executive director of the Nevada Manufacturer's Association, told the Sun: "We're not going to be a part of (the recall). Everyone here agreed there was a need for more taxes. We disagreed on the methodology, but not on the need. With some of the things going on in California there is justification over there for a recall but we don't have that justification here." John Restrepo, principal of Restrepo Consulting Group, said, "(Guinn) was duly elected by the people. This is a representative democracy we have, not a democracy by mob rule." Kara Kelley, president and chief executive officer of the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce, said, "We do not bel ieve Guinn's actions have warranted (a recall). Nevada does not want to face the instability that California is currently f! acing."

We view recall campaigns as a resource for removing public officials who have clearly demonstrated malfeasance or ineptitude. If we have a recall every time we have a disagreement, we'll no longer have people willing to run for office and good government will suffer.