Why would a rule like this make sense?

Well, think about it.

We taxpayers are left holding the bag for millions of dollars in special elections costs each year because a politician has a certain agenda to push (think Schwarzenegger’s unnecessary special election earlier this year…) or a politician is ready to bail on their constituents in search of greener pastures and bigger paydays!

Special elections can be expensive and there is often resentment from local governments over their costs. In the past, special deals have been proposed to help the counties recover the costs.

In 1993, the legislature authorized the reimbursement to counties for the costs of Gov. Pete Wilson’s special election. The total cost of that election was around $30 million.

More recently, the state declined to reimburse counties the $43 million election costs after the 2003 recall/special election that put Schwarzenegger in office.

It is estimated that the Governor’s special election last spring cost the taxpayers anywhere from $50-80 million depending on who you ask.

Those are statewide costs.  Local job-hoppers can cost the local taxpayers enormous sums as well, sums that we simply cannot afford right now especially with both the state and the City of Los Angeles teetering on the brink of bankruptcy.

Here’s an example of the root of the problem and the domino-effect it has on all our tax dollars.

State Senator Mark Ridley-Thomas successfully “job-hopped” from the State Senate to the Board of County Supervisors.  On March 24, 2009 barely 6 percent of registered voters showed up for a special election to fill his vacancy for California’s 26th Senate District.

In an area with almost 1 million residents and 400,000 registered voters, only 23,000 civic-minded citizens decided who would replace former State Senator Mark Ridley-Thomas.

How much did this special election (triggered by job-hopping) cost?

….A whopping $2.2 million of our tax dollars….nearly $100 per voter according to the Los Angeles Registrar-Recorder / County Clerk.

If Ridley-Thomas’ opponent, City Councilman Bernard Parks had been elected, that would have triggered a special election for his abandoned Council District and create another drain on our city’s resources because Parks was ready to bail on his constituents as well.  So much for loyalty.

But there’s another crucial argument to be here – the irresponsible delay in proper representation in the legislature or at City Council that is caused by job-hopping.

Mark Ridley-Thomas was elected to the LA County Board of Supervisors in November 2008.  His replacement didn’t take office until May 2009. That’s unacceptable, and especially so in California, where the Yacht Party uses the conservative veto to hijack the budget process.  For six months there was one less vote to use as leverage for the budget.

Coming soon, the voters of Council District #2 are having a special election on Sept. 22nd, which was triggered by Wendy Greuel’s first job-hop.

Wendy Greuel, self-proclaimed the “pothole queen”, and former CD-2 rep, decided to not complete her term on City Council and “job-hopped” to run for City Controller instead (all the better position for her to launch a “job-hop” to the mayor’s office later on).

Greuel’s job-hop has triggered an extra $1 million-plus cost of this CD-2 special election to the taxpayers.

In the race to replace her, there are at least two other job-hoppers who are willing to trigger further special elections costs to the taxpayers, rather than finishing their terms in the positions they were elected to in the first place.

Tamar Galatzan is ready to bail from her Board position and LAUSD constituents (she raised over two million to win this seat just two years ago and isn’t even half-done with her term yet—so that’s more than $1 million per year cost to her financial supporters!) and Paul Kerkorian is ready to flee the State Assembly to represent the voters of CD-2, if they let him.

But before we cast any aspersions (or votes), on the purity of these candidate’s motivations, the taxpayers should first know the extra, added cost of selecting these “job-hoppers” for office.
Should Kerkorian make it through the primary and be elected, that would trigger another special election costing over $2 million.

Now granted, $2 million here and $30 million there may not seem like a lot to an experienced Sacramento politician who has been used to over-spending and reckless budget management, but to we taxpayers, that’s a lot of dough that could be used for other vital services (firefighters on duty perhaps, for starters?).

Thus, Wendy Greuel’s initial job-hop could now trigger a domino-effect costing over $3million in expenses for the city and county.  I sure hope things work out for her in her bid to be mayor.  We’ve certainly paid enough for her continued success!

Of course, the voters could always choose to keep everybody in their elected places and instead select one of the seven grass-roots candidates in the CD-2 race which would save the taxpayers millions in extra special election expenses, but we won’t know until Sept. 22nd.

If by good fortune, one of the candidates in the crowded CD-2 race receives 50% plus one vote, then the whole game is over and we can save ourselves the cost of a run-off election, but that chance seems slim with ten candidates in the race.

Section 13001 of the State’s Elections Code says all expenses for elections are to be paid from county funds.

The State is not obligated to reimburse us for special elections that are triggered by our own job-hopping politicians.

I ask you….If we were truly interested in keeping our budgets balanced and election costs under control during this economically-challenging time, wouldn’t a politician with a conscience refuse to job-hop?  Wouldn’t they refuse to break the social contract that they have with their constituents, and not abandon them near the beginning or in the middle of their elected term?

And isn’t job-hopping discouraging for those who donate to these candidates?  If one of my political favorites had bailed on me after I’d given them a donation, I would demand my donation back.  “I paid for the full four year term thank you, so I want at least half my donation back!”  I can see the look on their faces now…

How should the taxpayers discourage job-hopping and remind our most- high elected ones that they were elected to serve their full term, and not just cut and run like a Sarah Palin with a lucrative book tour before her?

Let’s go on Bill Mahr’s show because it really is time for a new rule…

NEW RULE!

Section 13001-addendum A – “Neither the county nor the taxpayers shall incur any additional expenses that are caused by a job-hopping politician who decides to run for a new office while currently serving in another elected office.  All special election costs triggered by any decision to job-hop, shall be reimbursed to the state, county and taxpayers from the job-hopping candidate’s campaign fund.”

There’s a healthy remedy and a “New Rule” I could live with!