A recall petition is a valuable tool of democracy that allows citizens to address dishonesty, illegal activities or corruption by an elected official. It is not a tool intended to replace a duly elected official from office simply because one disagrees with their votes on specific issues. This is why the recall petition to replace three members of City Council currently being circulated is an abuse of the process.

At a minimum, the use of the recall process in this context is a form of political “bullying” promoted by a special interest group. This form of bullying introduces a dysfunction locally that we often see play out at the national and occasionally at the state level. There is no justification for this type of shenanigans in our community. We are better than this.

We can stand up to political bullying by simply saying, “No thank you,” when asked to sign any of the recall petitions being circulated.

Scott L. Ford

Steamboat Springs