Posted on 09/02/2003 2:46:29 AM PDT by F14 Pilot
"Guinn wrote the tax plan. He's the one who put pressure on the Republicans who didn't want it. He was the catalyst behind it, and we need to get rid of the catalyst."
A statewide group of activists and conservatives angered by Nevada's record tax increases will notify the secretary of state's office Wednesday of their intent to recall Gov. Kenny Guinn. Members of the Committee to Recall Governor Guinn said Monday they have more than 600 volunteers ready to circulate petitions and collect the more than 128,000 signatures needed to recall the governor.
"Guinn wrote the tax plan. He's the one who put pressure on the Republicans who didn't want it. He was the catalyst behind it, and we need to get rid of the catalyst," said political consultant Tony Dane, one of five members of the group's steering committee. It is composed of Republicans and members of ultraconservative parties.
After two special legislative sessions, Guinn signed on July 22 a bill that increases state taxes by $836 million over the next two years.
Dane said he started a Web site, www.recallguinn.com, in February to protect legislators holding out against tax increases and show Guinn a recall would be a possibility. Dane said he had abandoned the idea until others urged him to continue.
"I'd prefer someone else do it, but if no one else is stepping up to the plate, it'll be me," he said.
To succeed, the committee will have to obtain signatures from 128,109 voters, representing 25 percent of those who cast ballots in the 2002 general election. The state constitution grants 90 days to gather the signatures, with the clock starting the day after the secretary of state's office is notified.
If signatures on recall petitions are verified, the secretary of state has between 10 and 20 days to call for the election, which must be held within 30 days.
Candidates wishing to place their names on the special election ballot must obtain the same number of signatures required for a recall. Otherwise any vacancy in the governor's office would be filled by the lieutenant governor.
Guinn spokesman Greg Bortolin said recent polls show the governor, who won a resounding victory in November, remains popular despite the tax increases.
"It just seems after he received 68 percent of the vote less than a year ago and his polling number remain strong, it does lead you to question why they're doing this," Bortolin said. "Maybe some of these people feel left out because they can't get involved in what's going on in California."
Dane said the recall effort against California Gov. Gray Davis has emboldened the committee, which plans to canvass Department of Motor Vehicle offices for signatures.
Other members of the committee said their effort is prompted by doubts about Guinn's leadership.
Charles Patti, a retired businessman living in Pahrump and a member of the recall committee, said the governor lied to taxpayers. Guinn's recent announcement that the state will hire 1,800 new employees shows tax increases were about bigger government, not better education, he said.
"The money was never going to the kids," he said. "He held those kids and the educational system hostage and then tried to blame it on the legislators."
Sandy Harmon, a Tonopah political consultant and spokesman for the committee, said Guinn does not understand the damage the tax increases will do to businesses in the state's rural areas.
"What seems to be a minuscule tax on others they just can't bear," he said. "They've made it impossible for anyone to open a business here."
No statewide recall effort has ever succeeded, and no Nevada governor has ever been the subject of a recall, state Archivist Guy Rocha said.
"Based on historical precedent, the odds of a statewide recall are very slim," he said. Only at the local level and in some of the state's smaller counties and communities have recalls succeeded, he said.
Rocha said the effort could be bolstered by the state's move to the right on the political spectrum with the influx of Californians seeking refuge from taxes.
Nevada Republican Liberty Caucus chairman George Harris said members of his coalition, which recently abandoned an effort to recall six Nevada Supreme Court justices, had talked about recalling the governor, and some still would be interested.
"People don't see the governor as an honest guy," he said.
But University of Nevada, Las Vegas political science professor Michael Bowers said voters will balk because of the costs of a special election and an absence of any legitimate reason.
"The governor really has not done anything wrong," he said. "He has not violated the law. He has not shown incompetence. He merely proposed raising taxes."
I lived in Arizona for a long time and could not recall TWO governors being recalled. A Google search says that enough signatures were gathered to recall EV Mecham, but he was impeached first. No other recall was mentioned.
I actually liked Ev Mecham.
There's no controlling legal authority? How about ethics, a little honesty, and not using the kids for money grubbing politics for a change??
(Vote school choice.)
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