Today’s overwhelming vote to keep David Israel in office by defeating a recall initiative reinforced ten things I think I already knew:
1. Our delegates are smart and fair. They were not fooled by claims totally unsupported by fact. They rejected a mean-spirited and small-minded campaign to remove a sitting president who has done nothing even remotely illegal, unethical or immoral—and in fact has led this community with intelligence, honesty and vision.
2. Those who sought to unseat Dave will stop at nothing. They have wasted our time and held us all hostage for months while they built a case based on innuendo and broad, unsubstantiated charges. The lack of detail in their claims was astonishing. They will try again and they will be defeated again.
3. We should all remember the cheap, lowdown tactics used by Dave’s attackers. They asked delegates not to sign in to today’s meeting in order to prevent a quorum and a vote; they clearly understood, after the Board of Inquiry voted “no grounds for dismissal” on every single one of the claims made against Dave, that they were fighting a losing battle. The sponsors of the petition did not even show up for the vote. If you’re going to lead a charge for something as momentous as this, at least do it competently.
4. We need to make a recall effort harder to do. Something that impacts the Village so powerfully, and potentially defiles the reputation of one of our leaders, should not be allowed to go forward on 35 signatures. We need a full review of the process to make it as serious and comprehensive as it should be. That said, Dorothy Tetro did an excellent job of managing the Board of Inquiry and the vote, start to finish with fairness and control.
5. The term “impeachment” says it all. Dave’s accusers used the most inflammatory and inflated term they could think of (“recall” wasn’t bad enough for them). If they paid their attorney for this, they paid way too much. If you’re going to impeach someone, the charges should be strong, detailed, backed by law and defensible.
6. I have restored faith in due process. I feared that rhetoric, baseless charges and insidious tactics would win out over objectivity. I was wrong. Kudos to the good people of this Village.
7. I resent the time and energy this recall took away from meaningful work that needs to be done. What a waste. What a disgrace.
8. No good deed goes unpunished. People like Dave who give their hearts and souls to this Village too often are met with criticism and rancor. I include Ed Black, namelessly but obviously targeted in this recall, who remains one of the most knowledgeable and helpful volunteers in this Village. We should get better at thanking all those who serve.
9. The sponsors of this recall have lost every ounce of credibility they ever had. If they want to control the presidency so badly, they should run for office and legitimately win an election instead of trying to sneak in the back door. They should earn the office, not try to steal it from someone else.
10. Support for David today came from some unexpected quarters, from delegates who have disagreed with him in the past and opposed him on many issues. Congratulations to them for their even-handedness. They voted on the facts, not on personality conflicts. They deserve our respect.
Please put this fine summary in the UCO Reporter. Especially for the edification of those who were persuaded not to show up today.
ReplyDeleteAnita, you said so well what many of us were thinking. It is good to see it in print and logically laid out. I am so glad that the people supported Dave. It is too bad that we had to waste so much time on such a horribly presented case. We do need this process in the by-laws BUT, now that we have had the first case ever, it is obvious that we need to rethink the procedures and bring them up to date. Congratulations Dave and thank you Anita.
ReplyDeleteWell said Anita. Those 3 so and sos wouldn't even show up. I guess they knew they were a minority of 4. I just hope that the by laws can be changed to have a longer term for a good president. Keep up all the good work David.
ReplyDeleteWhat I learned today is that at least two of the stooges do not have the courage of their covictions . Or maybe they were convinced their ill conceived schemes to not showup to vote would work. Stupid is as stupid does.
ReplyDeleteLooking back on these events, from the comfort of my armchair, it seems to me that the motivation behind the recall petition had nothing at all to do with fiscal wrongdoing, or mismanagement, or misapplication of bylaws. The vague and unsupportive nature of the charges were the proof of that. Any lawyer would have read that document and said "you can't go to court with this", and the pool cleaner would have realized that the bogus signature list would not hold up to scrutiny.
ReplyDeleteThis affair was about a small group of political outcasts forcing a presidential election one year early, and before the question of term limits hits the Delegate floor.
The Three Stooges did not want Delegates to vote on whether or not David Israel did something wrong and deserved to be removed; they wanted a referendum on Mr. Israels' presidency, essentially a British style no-confidence vote, followed by the election of a new president. It is a small but important difference. Lots of people don't like how Obama and the Democrats are running the country, but unless somebody does something very wrong, the next chance to do something about it is in 2014 or 2016. We do it that way to keep politicians from paralyzing Government.
The Officers did a good job keeping this entire mess, which was forced on them, on the right track: on the question of whether not the president did anything wrong and whether or not he should be removed from office. As I was watching the vote, I got the feeling that all Delegates knew exactly what they were voting for. Some of these people may very well not vote for Mr. Israel if he runs in 2014. Maybe they don't like how the roads turned out, or think WiFi is the tool of the Devil, or maybe Dave looked at them crosseyed at the Corral. That is not what they showed up to vote for.
When the Stooges, and apparently most of their supporters, realized that they would not get the opportunity to steer the proceedings into a popularity contest, they abandoned ship and stayed out of the Theater.
You have put it so well in your 10-points post, Anita. Yours is a classic. "Astonished" is the right word for how many delegates not "in the know" must have felt (as I did too) when the three main complainants, Karpf, Solomon and Grossman, came up with NOTHING at the Board of Inquiry! And then bolted after the Board's third finding, and didn't even show up for the delegates meeting! Speak of high-tailing it, I won't forget this one.
ReplyDeleteThe "silent majority" Dave wrote about on the Blog came to life and were not so silent when Friday arrived. They came to the meeting with honorable perspectives, and spoke up loud and clear for Dave, what he has done, and his character.
Also, I think that Donald Foster has some real insights into the whole business in his Feb. 16 comment.