This past week, Q-line asked: “Do you see a need for a special election?”
Here are your responses: ✆ “All the special elections in the world isn’t going to change much. The lack of caring and integrity in our political system, local and nationwide, goes on and on and this is the bottom line no matter how many special elections we have.” ✆ “I do not think we need a special election because it just costs us a lot of money and this so-called governor who should be impeached, I think we should have a petition up to impeach him because he’s no good. Personally, he doesn’t even know what he’s doing. Also, I already voted absentee ballot and I voted ‘no’ on every proposition. No, no, and no because I can’t see anything going his way. As I said before, I don’t think he knows what he’s doing.” ✆ “In my opinion the basis for the special election is that Governor Arnold ‘The Terminator’ Schwarzenegger does not want civil servants who are in the business of protecting lives to be rewarded with the high wages in the manor of motion picture actors. Is the prerequisite for a civil servant to earn high wages determined by the civil servant having the capability of inarticulately mumbling ‘I’ll be back?’ Not likely. A civil servant’s wages are earned by being on time and often putting their lives on the line to get the job done. Five star General Douglas MacArthur, a civil servant, only was making $1,000 a month when he promised he would return to the Philippine Islands with his highly articulate statement to the Philippine people, ‘I shall return.’ And he did keep his promise. On the other hand, Terminator Schwarzenegger made millions with his inarticulate ‘I’ll be back.’ He has not kept his pre-election promises. He only likes to kick butt.” ✆ “Of course not. But since we are stuck with it there should be one more item on the ballot. Recall the person who forced this unnecessary election, Arnold Schwarzenegger. Hopefully, the overwhelming ‘no’ vote will relay that message.” ✆ “This election is a waste of time and money. Because any time some proposition passes the sore losers go to court to overturn it and in effect telling the voters, ‘to heck with you, your vote doesn’t matter. We do what we want, not what you want.’ It’s a waste of money because nobody pays attention to these ads. The only purpose of this election that would be good would be voting some of these idiots out of office such as Schwarzenegger, all of the Legislature, Congress, and that moron in the White House, Bush. He’s the one that should be voted out of office.” ✆ “Yes, I’m in favor of a recall election. I think we need a recall election to recall some of the problematic City Council members like Ken Genser, McKeown, and Bloom due to their inability to deal with the transient problems and traffic problems in this city and they want to further jam up the city with over development and not heed direction from the residents. I would recommend a recall election to recall everyone except Shriver.” ✆ “No. I don’t see any need for a special election other than if we are going to get rid of Schwarzenegger, which we shouldn’t have got in there anyway.” ✆ “All my family has been union members for years — my mother for 48 years and when she died she had death pension benefits and the union did not give her any death pension benefits, they gave it to candidates for running for governor. We had no say in that, never once. I’ve been a member of the teachers’ union and I am supportive of unions but never once were we ever asked who to vote for. They just select the candidates and there are people that are on both sides, both Republican and Democrat. So anyway, the union has taken everyone’s death pension benefits, including veteran workers who worked as grocery checkers at the local 770 the united retail clerks union who were working a long time and then they were drafted. One fellow was killed and the store had to take up a collection because they wouldn’t give him his death pension benefits, they had already given them to a candidate of their choice to run for political office and it’s just not fair. It really isn’t fair when a person works 48 years, pays their dues, and dies and doesn’t even have enough money to carry their burial expenses which is in the contract that they give them this money, but you can’t get it from local 770 the united retail clerks union which is the largest retail clerks union in the state and my mother was the one that helped to start that. You can’t get anything. They tell you who to vote for, they tell you where your money goes. The membership should at least have an opportunity to express who they want the money to go to if they want to have a consensus of an entire vote. But it just isn’t fair to do that to people, to take your pension money, to take your death pension money, and to give it to candidates. Lt. Gov. Cruz got $3 million from local 770 and after it was discovered he apologized but he never returned it. He was to run for governor. And that was all union money, the local 770 and the workers work their butts off and they should have a say in where their membership money goes.” ✆ “As a long-term Republican voter I think if Arnold Schwarzenegger had done things properly we wouldn’t have the need for the special election, which is just costing people a lot of time and money. And I am a true Republican but then I like to do what is right.” ✆ “We need this special election. I am a Democrat and I’m going to vote and I voted for Arnold Schwarzenegger. I’m going to vote for all the propositions with the exception of 73, I’m voting against that. Especially the one about the accountability of the teachers. I think a lot of the radical leftists made much of the colleges into brainwashing politically correct center. Also the unions are dinosaurs, especially the current unions and they need to be held accountable too. People should not have to put money in when they don’t agree with them and that’s how I feel about that. Also, the Legislature is not doing its job so I’m going to support the one about the judges. I’d rather it be somebody other than the judges but that’s how I feel.” ✆ “I’m not much for special elections. Why can’t they get it right the first time? However, here in Santa Monica, a special election is long over due to oust this current city administration. All of them, with all of their blatant failures like the homeless programs, overbuilding, horrific traffic and parking problems and the very dangerous health threatening design to fluoridate our water. Wonder what kind of kickback they are getting on this little horror.” ✆ “No, we definitely did not need a special election. But I will show up to it since we are paying for it through the nose. And it’s just an arrogant act on the part of Governor Schwarzenegger to snap his fingers. Anyway, we will turn out and we will vote no on all his initiatives. What a waste.” ✆ “Yes, California is a train wreck that has already happened — 30 years of tax and spend liberalism has helped destroy this state. At least Bush got half of it right. We have few leaders in this state. Mr. Schwarzenegger makes a stand for fiscal responsibility and for people to be accountable and progressives around California get nosebleeds as if the altitude that these ideas represent was damaging to the liberal spending sensitivities. What happened to us? We have become fat and lazy. Look at our children. Many things are just given to us. We lack the stamina to make tough decisions. Where’s the generation that struggled through the depression? Where are the people that stormed the beaches at Normandy and rid the world of the evil of fascism? The new evil is socialism. It lets someone else pay, it lets you have everything now. Our new leaders are stupid hip-hop rappers, sports idiots, and moronic actresses telling us to love everything. They are not correct role models. We need to live within our means. A good leader provides an environment which lets people rise to the level of their own competence.” ✆ “There is a need for the special election. The previous tandem in power in Sacramento — Gray Davis and Cruz Bustamante — were awful. They absolutely destroyed the state financially. Now we have a knight coming, charging forward with a game plan to cap spending and to pay as we go. In other words, if we don’t have the money, we don’t spend it. And this will be a breath of fresh air for all Californians. Go Arnold.” ✆ “We do not need this special election but we have it so please do not sit it out. Those who want to give Arnold more power and give people more restrictions will show up at the polls. So those of us who want to restrict an ego-driven, power grabber better show up as well.” ✆ “We need a special election to remove the governor from office. By the way, I think we could use a special election here in Santa Monica to remove the majority of the council members who do what they want and don’t listen to what the residents want.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on October 29, 2005. Read the original PDF.