‘Revenge recalls’ are awful — and there’s one happening right now in SLO County

They were at it again.

On Tuesday night, a small group of protesters trying to recall three South County school board members gathered in a residential neighborhood, banging drums, ringing cowbells, yelling and disrupting the quiet.

This time, Pismo Beach police issued citations to four protesters who were blocking the street in front of the house belonging to board President Don Stewart, who is facing recall along with Trustees Colleen Martin and Dee Santos.

“Their rallying cry is, ‘It’s for the children,’” Stewart said of the protesters. “When you come into neighborhoods and disturb the peace on school nights, I don’t understand how that’s for the children.”

There undoubtedly are some mature, reasonable, serious-minded individuals who believe they are acting in the best interests of children with their effort to oust three members of the Lucia Mar Unified School District Board of Trustees.

But other recall supporters are acting like obnoxious playground bullies, by yelling at public meetings, defacing “no on recall” signs, making baseless accusations and harassing school board members at their homes while frightening their neighbors.

Relying on antics rather than arguments is no way to run a recall.

Worse, it could discourage good candidates from running for office if this is the type of nonsense they have to deal with.

Martin and Stewart say they’ll run again

At least these three board members aren’t going to be bullied out of office.

Stewart’s term is up in 2024, and he has every intention of running again.

“Absolutely,” he said emphatically.

Martin, whose term expires at the end of 2022, also plans to run for reelection.

Santos has been considering retiring from the board in 2024 and possibly running instead for Grover Beach City Council — she’s a former mayor and council member. But she’s still mulling it over; she’s been a voice for the underrepresented Latino community and if she feels she’s still needed, she may seek reelection.

If she does decide against another run for school board, it won’t be because she’s been intimated by the recall bullies.

“No,” she said. “That would be the day.”

School board recalls occur across the country

COVID-19 put school boards in the spotlight across America as angry parents lashed out for how they have responded — or not responded — to the pandemic.

According to Ballotpedia, so far this year 75 recall campaigns have been launched against school boards in the United States, compared to 29 last year and 20 in 2019. Of the 75, 23 were filed in California, though some of those campaigns have already failed to make it to the ballot due to lack of signatures.

Several of the campaigns have the support of the Republican Party, which is the case with the Lucia Mar recall. The SLO County GOP has urged its members to sign the petition, while the local Democratic Party is opposing it. The Lucia Mar Teachers Association also is opposed.

Recall backers have until 5 p.m. on Nov. 4 to submit 8,302 signatures. Early on in the campaign, organizers said they hoped to gather 10,000 in case some signatures are invalid.

They are making a big push right now by mailing out recall petitions to many registered voters in South County, along with prepaid envelopes — and a request to get family and friends to sign as well.

‘Revenge recalls’

A recent editorial in the Los Angeles Times described the recent efforts to oust school board members as “revenge recalls.”

They’re fueled, not by concern over, say, fiscal mismanagement or patterns of gross misconduct, but rather by frustration over COVID shutdowns, online learning and mask mandates — even though many of those actions were dictated by the state.

This rash of recalls is costing taxpayer money. If the Lucia Mar recall winds up on the ballot, it will cost the district an estimated $350,000.

And what’s the point?

Recall backers say the school board failed to reopen schools quickly enough. They also blame the three board members for a big increase in failing grades that coincided with the switch to virtual learning, and for the loss of approximately 500 students.

And while the mask mandate is not mentioned in the petitions, it’s on the minds of some of the petition signers.

“... You want them to wear those filthy masks all day,” one commenter posted on Facebook, in response to a teacher association plea that voters not sign the petitions.

Give school board members a break.

They did not cause this disease. They handled a once-in-a lifetime crisis as they saw fit at the time, and no matter what decision they made, some families would have been unhappy.

They placed the health and safety of children first, based on the best available science and guidance they had — and for that they’re being condemned?

Other grievances

This isn’t just about the district’s COVID response; recall proponents also have been calling out individual board members for other things, including “unacceptable” comments made at meetings.

A video montage of “unacceptable public comments” includes clips of Martin saying how happy she was to see Kamala Harris elected as the nation’s first woman vice president and commending the new presidential administration for “inclusivity.”

It also includes this statement from board President Stewart: “It’s important for me to at least go on record and offer my sentiment that Black lives matter.”

That statement was made last year, Stewart said, shortly after the murder of George Floyd, and was in response to comments from students and alumni who had raised the issue of racial justice to the board.

We hesitate to use the term “witch hunt,” but when a board member is criticized for supporting Black lives, that’s exactly what’s going on — and that’s deeply, deeply unacceptable.

What happens next?

It the recall qualifies for the ballot, the election will likely be held in the spring.

As with the attempted recall of Gov. Gavin Newsom, candidates interested in replacing the three board members will be on the ballot as well.

It should not come down to that.

Recalls should be reserved for the most egregious of cases. Attempting to kick out public officials because you disagree with something they said or don’t like how they voted is the epitome of boy-who-cried-wolf.

If you don’t like how school board members handled the COVID shutdown — or any other issue, for that matter — there are plenty of ways to speak your mind.

Send an email to the board. Write a letter to the editor. Speak up — civilly — during public comment. Post about it on social media.

If you still aren’t satisfied, vote them out when they’re up for reelection; the next opportunity is coming up in November 2022.

But these pervasive campaigns to oust elected officials who are simply trying to their jobs are an affront to democracy.

It’s time to stand against this egregious “trend” to attempt to rule by recall.

We urge voters in the Lucia Mar Unified School District to send a strong message by refusing to sign recall petitions targeting trustees Colleen Martin, Dee Santos and Don Stewart.