Saturday, September 26, 2009

Voters need right to recall elected officials

by Catherine Ceips

If it were up to the people instead of the politicians, Mark Sanford would have already been removed from the Governor’s office.

Unfortunately in South Carolina it is up to the politicians and in this instance, the decision to keep Sanford in office is controlled by a very few politicians, against the wishes of the majority and against the best interest of our state.

Now, more than ever, the people of South Carolina need real leadership to help solve the unemployment crisis we currently face. As of August there were 258,465 unemployed South Carolinians. These families are desperate for jobs now -- not 15 months from now. They need a Governor who will help them, not hinder them.

Last week, Rep. Bill Sandifer, Chairman of the House Labor Commerce and Industry Committee, wrote to Governor Sanford: “I have spoken to numerous business and industrial leaders across the state and nation as well as a few foreign countries. In each of these conversations, business leaders have told me that if you continue to serve as Governor, it will be a giant impediment to any company locating in our state.”

It is the Governor’s responsibility to recruit industry to our state. Mark Sanford is now actually driving businesses away. So why hasn’t our legislature taken steps to remove Sanford?

The answer is because our state’s laws allow one person to control this most important decision. While the House Speaker and Senate President must act together to call the entire legislature into session, the Speaker alone has the ability to call the House only in to begin the process. If the Speaker, for whatever reason, decides to delay the process, he can do so.

Therefore, to thwart the apparent will of the people and the majority of the legislature, the Governor needs only to persuade one person, The Speaker, to delay; to stall, in hopes of riding out the storm… without consideration of the needs of more than a quarter-of-a-million unemployed South Carolinians.

Apparently that is exactly what has happened. The will of the people, the will of the majority of the legislature, and the best interests of the State of South Carolina is set aside. Despite his earlier commitment to not let the “Sanford problem” create a distraction during the 2010 session of the legislature, the Speaker has reversed his decision and delayed taking action.

While the Speaker and others claim they are awaiting findings from the Ethics Commission, they know full well that the Ethics Commission has no jurisdiction to investigate dereliction of duty or misconduct in office. By law, the Ethics Commission can only investigate campaign spending and related matters. The state constitution requires the House of Representatives, and no other agency, to determine if the Governor should be held accountable for misconduct. So why are they waiting for the Ethics Commission?

Only the House of Representatives has any authority to determine whether Sanford’s misconduct in office – dereliction of duty by secretly leaving his job (and the country) for five days – is an impeachable offense. Sadly, the House leadership seems to be passing the buck

Never in recent history has there been a more compelling reason for the PEOPLE of South Carolina to take action to correct this flaw in our system.

Governor Sanford’s successful political maneuvering to keep himself in office is a prime example of why it should be up to the people, not just the politicians, to remove elected officials from office. It is time for South Carolina to join the 30 other states who allow voters to recall elected officials by way of a citizens petition. It is time to dismantle South Carolina’s “lets make a deal” good-old-boy system once and for all.

Based on recent polls, if South Carolina’s constitution allowed recall elections, Mark Sanford would not be allowed to remain in office. The people would already have bypassed the elected politicians and solved the problem.

That is why I, along with others, am launching an effort to amend our state’s constitution to give voters the right to recall elected officials for serious misconduct in office. Whether Sanford’s political power plays are successful in keeping him in office or not, we can never allow this situation to occur again.

We expect this to be a hard-fought battle. Some elected officials will not relinquish their power and give voters the right to recall them. This is a battle that must be won at the ballot box, by electing new legislators who will support the right of the people to recall.

I call on the citizens of South Carolina to join this non-partisan effort to remind all incumbent officials that they work for us… not the other way around.

In recent years, there has been discussion about restructuring state government to shift the balance of power between the legislature and the governor. It is time to shift the balance of power away from the legislative branch AND the executive branch… back to the people, where it belongs.

The legislature’s inability to remove Mark Sanford from office is all the proof we need.