In letters to the editor: SLO readers weigh in on Gov. Gavin Newsom’s recall
Vote for Dan Kapelovitz
I appreciate your clear description of our choices in the recall election (“Voter Guide: Here’s how to cast ballot in state’s recall election,” Aug. 20), especially as not all voters realize they can vote no on the recall and on the same ballot also vote for the best candidate of the 46 running.
I am voting no on the recall while voting for candidate Dan Kapelovitz, who represents my politics. Mr. Kapelovitz also supports a no vote in the recall. He is a graduate of UCLA Law School and a criminal defense attorney who was formerly a journalist.
Some of Dan’s issues are electoral reform, COVID-19 and public health, fair taxation, climate disaster, and Medicare for all. More information on his planned policies can be found at kapelovitz.com, as well as on his Twitter feed.
Make your vote count by voting for Dan Kapelovitz.
Peggy Koteen, San Luis Obispo
Answer both ballot questions
The vice mayor of San Luis Obispo, Erica Stewart, wrote in her letter dated Aug. 29 that if people are voting against the governor recall, they should ONLY vote on Question #1 on the ballot, and NOT vote on Question #2. Why?
If the recall succeeds, that voter will have missed their opportunity to select the replacement governor.
Democracy works best if we ALL vote for both questions.
Scott Smith-Cooke, San Luis Obispo
Newsom’s failures
Everyone who’s registered to vote within any of the 58 counties in this state needs to recognize that all of the policies that Gov. Newsom stands behind are total failures. Propositions 47 and 57 have dumped dangerous criminals into our neighborhoods. His mishandling of our water delivery system and failure to create more water storage that would help recharge the aquifers in the central San Joaquin Valley have led to the destruction of small farm towns and collapse of aquifers. Vote yes to recall Newsom!
Steve Howell, Morro Bay
What did Newsom do wrong?
According to Ruben Navarrette, “It’s not that Newsom did anything wrong; it’s that he’s the wrong person for the job” (“Newsom unfit to manage California and deserves to be recalled,” Tribune, Aug. 30). Ruben’s confession summarizes what Republicans are hoping California voters will buy. Five paragraphs later, we get the real reason: “... COVID-19 sent him to the mat...”
Republicans are still complaining about the inconvenience of having to wear masks to protect people from this virus and refusing to get vaccinated. Your opportunity is here to tell them to shut up, wear the masks, vaccinate and do the right thing: Vote “no” on the recall.
Jim Carlisle, Atascadero
Recall is attack on democracy
The right has decided it is OK to subvert the democratic process in any way that helps them maintain power. The recall is just another of their election gimmicks and shenanigans we see going on throughout the country to subvert the will of the people — whether it is the “audit” in Arizona; the vile election law changes crafted by Republican state legislatures; the gerrymandering that assures the disenfranchising of large groups of people; intimidation modalities such as “poll observers”; outlawing the providing of water for people who are deliberately forced to wait in obscene long lines; or simply making it harder to vote by eliminating voting sites.
One may not like Newsom, but he won the gubernatorial election fairly and he is not accused of any crime or immorality. The right wants to circumvent the majority with this recall. The many recall candidates are designed to spread the vote assuring that Larry Elders, being organized, will get the plurality vote should Newsom be recalled. We all, whatever party, should vote against the recall if we want democracy to prevail.
Ronald Field, Paso Robles
Confusing ballot
Be careful voting on the Newsom recall ballot. Already two friends opposed to the recall have told me they voted incorrectly. They filled in the ”YES” box located in the section next to the governor’s name. Only later did they realize they had voted for the recall.
On this ballot, to support Gov. Newsom, the “NO” box must be filled in.
Fortunately, they corrected the ballots and filled in the right box before mailing them.
Equally disturbing is the section of candidates running for interim governor if the recall vote is positive. There are nearly 50 individuals on the ballot. None of them needs to receive the majority of the votes cast to become California’s next governor. They need only one vote more than any other candidate.
A “YES” vote on the recall could result only in confusion, paralysis and chaos. To avoid all of that, please vote “NO” on recalling Gov. Newsom.
Jim Lipsett, Morro Bay
Vote no on recall
Vote-by-mail ballots are already in the hands of voters who will decide whether or not to recall Gov. Newsom. With a $276 million price tag and a host of unqualified candidates, the cost of this recall effort is too high to ignore. I urge you to vote “no.”
It’s not hyperbole to say California’s future is at stake. We need to keep communities safe from COVID-19 and gun violence, safeguard voting rights, provide resources for marginalized communities, ensure access to reproductive healthcare for all, protect immigrant rights, and combat climate change today. Your voice and your vote matter now more than ever.
Registered voters should have already received their vote-by-mail ballot (if you haven’t, register by August 30!). There are only two questions on the ballot. To ensure Newsom is not recalled, vote “no” on Question #1 and leave Question #2 blank. Mail the postage-paid ballot or bring it to an official dropbox location ASAP. Otherwise, cast your vote at your local polling place on Election Day.
The cost of this recall election is high; the stakes are even higher. Join me in voting “no” by Sept. 14.
Erica Stewart, San Luis Obispo
Mail that ballot
If you care about California, you will not ignore the ballot that was mailed to you. We are in danger of our legitimately elected governor being removed from office by maybe 51% yes votes on recall and then a farce of a replacement being elected with maybe 5% of the votes.
The process is unfair, but that’s the way it is right now. If you don’t want that to happen, vote NO on recall. That’s all you have to do, but you have to do it!
Rosalie Valvo, Morro Bay
Save Newsom
Let’s not take for granted our science-based governor. Remember Trump’s solution for preventive firefighting? Raking.
Most of the folks running are Trump supporters. Also, look at the refrigerator trucks being brought into southeastern Republican states because their COVID cases are so high. Many hospitals can’t accept car accident patients, knee surgeries, etc.
Please listen to mainstream news to hear the horrible news of families being torn apart and nurses quitting because of stress and frustration. Everyone wants schools to open but without masks; thousands of kids are being sent home already to quarantine in the non-masking Republican southeast. Not having everyone in schools masked or vaccinated is like having one area of the plane smoking and the other not. If our hospitals were full I wouldn’t be shopping in town at all, causing further unemployment. I certainly wouldn’t go to Texas or Florida.
Lucia Cleveland, San Luis Obispo
False flag
The Gavin Newsom recall effort is a false flag. The ulterior motive of the Republican instigators is to install a governor who will replace Dianne Feinstein, upsetting the slim Democratic majority in the Senate.
Although Sen. Dianne Feinstein has stated she will not retire before her term ends January 2025, at age 88 that seems unlikely. Though many of us held Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg in the highest regard, her refusal to step down did not end well and has imperiled much of the legislation she devoted herself to.
We cannot allow California, and the Senate, to be overtaken by monied interests counter to the well-being of our state and all Americans. This folly, at a taxpayer cost of more than $215 million, is a surreptitious power-grab that may, in fact, be unconstitutional.
If we all vote no on the recall, the pending lawsuit will be moot, but can serve as the impetus for much-needed reform. A one-issue ballot may tempt some to not vote, but we all must vote and vote no.
Karen Morgan, San Luis Obispo
No good options to Newsom
Republicans’ fifth attempt to recall Gov. Newsom has triggered a special election. Their first attempt was on March of 2019, two months after Newsom took office. This recall will cost the state $276 million dollars! Why try five times and why waste so much money? Because Republicans know they can’t win a regular election in California and their only way to get the governor’s seat is through a recall, and their biggest bet is that Dems won’t come out to vote.
Vote-by-mail ballots will be sent out starting Aug. 16. You will face two questions.
Q1: Should Governor Newsom be Recalled? I’m marking “No.”
Q2: If the recall succeeds ( #1 gets more than 50% yes votes) who do you want to have as governor? I’m leaving this empty, there are no good options.
We need 50% “no’s” in Q1. If not, whoever gets the most votes in Q2 is our next governor. A mere 4% could choose the next governor.
We need to be responsible about this recall. The leader of the 5th largest economy in the world can’t be an improvised radio host, or a COVID-is-a-hoax Trump supporter. California, vote no, vote early!
Rita Casaverde, Atascadero
Time for a change
When I saw your newspaper supports Gov. Newsom I had to check the date as I assumed it must have been an April Fools Day joke. I am a political moderate, but Newsom has been a disaster as our governor.
Highest taxes in the nation, highest gas prices in the nation, 180,000 homeless in spite of the hundreds of millions we are taxed for a “ solution”; the state’s June jobless rate was 7.7% while the nation’s was 5.9%; California is the most regulated state in the U.S.; homicides increased 31% in 2020; no-bid contracts were offered to Newsom’s campaign donors.
I was born and raised in this great state. We have the finest resources and minds in the world, but high taxes with pitiful results are clearly a sign of poor leadership. It is absolutely time for a change!
H. Terry Hunt, Nipomo