By Kate Callen
There are two schools of thought about how Michigan’s Haley Stevens should spend her final weeks as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives.
Enraged Democrats reacted to her 11th-hour endorsement of Republican Senate candidate Mike Rogers by wanting her stripped of office. She was booted from the Michigan Democratic Party. Long-time friends and mentors disavowed her.
Democrats with cooler heads preferred another outcome.
Forcing Stevens out of her job, if that were even possible, would make her an ideological martyr. Letting her stay would make her a pariah. If she shows up in the halls of Congress after this, she will be shunned like a skunk – publicly ostracized every minute of every painful remaining day.
Revenge is a dish best served cold. For maximum effect, it should be brought to the table slowly. Which is why a new campaign to recall Mayor Todd Gloria is a bad idea.
On October 29, a group of activists led by attorney Genevieve Jones-Wright filed a notice of intent to gather signatures for a recall petition. If all goes smoothly, the petition can begin circulating before Thanksgiving. If signatures from 15 percent of registered voters are collected within 120 days, the City Council must call a special election.
That election would cost money the city doesn’t have. It would bring Gloria’s YIMBY and labor minions out of the burrows where they’ve been hiding. It would overshadow the 2028 race for mayor and hinder the candidates already gearing up to succeed him.
And to what end? Gloria can’t inflict much more damage on San Diego. His “strong mayor” power has run out. He squandered it by racking up enough failures and transgressions to power a website.
In fact, they have. “The Truth About Todd: The Story About Todd Gloria, San Diego’s Dictator Mayor” is a compendium of his misdeeds over 6 years. Its drop-down menu of topics includes Financial Mismanagement, Ethical Failures, Fiascos in Governance, and War on Homeowners.
When Gloria ran for mayor in 2020, community activists in District 3 who knew him as our Councilmember warned the rest of the city that he would be a disaster. We pointed out that he lacked executive experience and strong mettle. We predicted he would rush into bad decisions and slither away when they blew up.
But we never expected him to be so snarky, so dismissive to those who questioned him and cruel to those who opposed him. As an act of penance, he should serve out every day of the rest of his second term.
Gloria is obviously miserable. Like his doppelganger Donald Trump, he has become pathetic. He is the most unpopular mayor in modern San Diego history.
The Union-Tribune, which strongly backed him for election in 2020 and tepidly endorsed him in 2024, has turned on him with a vengeance. The once-compliant City Council largely ignores him. His public appearances are rare and closely managed.
Recalling him in 2027 would put an end to his suffering. But then what would happen at City Hall? The last time a mayor was ousted, Bob Filner was replaced by Council President Todd Gloria. How does Interim Mayor Joe La Cava sound?
Let’s keep Gloria in office. Let him pay the price for treating constituents so badly that they revile him. And let his final excruciating two years in office serve as a warning to other politicians. Everyone has their day of reckoning. The greater your hubris, the worse your atonement.
I’d like to hear from Ms. Jones-Wright. I’ve never known her to tilt windmills. I too wonder about a recall election so close to the usual one, but wonder if recall would be more punishment than your proposal.
Beautifully put, Kate. I agree with you 100%. He’s not worth wasting recall money on.
I’m wondering what motivated Genevieve Jones-Wright to do this. During the last election she ran in, candidate Larry Turner showed up and his residency was s serious question. I emailed Genevieve Jones-Wright to see if she intended to look into Turner’s residency to see if he should be running and she declined. She was not interested. Why is she initiating this now?
Thx much for sharing this harsh, but very persuasive response and counterpoint to the recall effort. I like the recall, because it will give frustrated San Diegans the ability to vent their anger by signing the recall petition. At the same time, I think the private money needed to circulate those petitons and, if the recall qualifies, the public cost to put it on the ballot, could be better spent elsewhere… not to mention the time and energy expended. But this complicated process does strike me as as good exercise in local democracy.