"The first thing [I would do], assuming there are still mandates for masks and for vaccines, those would be repealed." - Larry Elder on One America News Network
I did not support Gavin Newsom in his primary race. While I agreed with his initial actions during the pandemic, I feel that he has lacked the courage to make the hard choices needed as this crisis has dragged on. Dining out maskless in violation of his own regulations was a boneheaded move that should end his future political career. As a public-education advocate, I am frustrated that he has interfered on behalf of the charter-school industry as their supporters' money has poured into his campaign coffers. Still, without hesitation, I am voting "no" on the Republican effort to recall him.
As the Delta Variant fuels yet another surge, switching leadership in California would be a risky endeavor. This is especially true considering who leads the pack in the race to take Newsom's place if the recall effort is successful.
Even as pediatric ICUs across the country are reaching capacity, GOP leading candidate, Trump Republican Larry Elder, denies that there is a current threat to our health-care system. He is against adding the COVID vaccine to the ones students must receive to attend school. He also does not believe that the unvaccinated should be forced to wear masks in public spaces.
When Los Angeles schools reopened their campuses, the vast majority of socioeconomically disadvantaged families kept their children home. This is because COVID-19 decimated their communities and they were afraid that attending in-person classes was not worth the risk. Elder ignores these experiences and maintains that schools should have been forced to reopen earlier, even if it was not safe to do so and endangered children, families, teachers, and other adults who work in our schools. The Delta variant affects children more than previous forms of the virus, but Elder still states on his website that "science made it clear that children were not at grave risk from COVID-19."
I am voting "no" on the recall because California cannot risk having its own version of Ron DeSantis or Greg Abbott. The safety of our fellow citizens depends on having someone in the governor's mansion with the experience to guide us safely through the end of this pandemic. Most importantly, we need a governor who will listen to scientists, not Donald Trump.
It is important to remember that voting "no" on the recall is not enough. When it comes to the second question on the ballot every person who votes against the recall must still choose someone to replace Newsom if he loses his fight to stay in office. Doing so will not dilute your "no" vote in any way; it is only a backup measure to ensure that Trump Republicans do not take control of California's Executive Branch. Think of it as a case of hoping for the best but planning for the worst.
Personally, I am leaning towards voting for Dan Kapelovitz, one of the two Green Party candidates on the ballot. One of the reasons that I am considering voting for him is that he is very clearly opposing the recall effort. By urging a "no" vote on the recall he is showing that he recognizes the threat that this effort represents to our state and to democracy.
Another important factor in my decision-making process is Kapelovitz's support of public education. When I asked him at a recent forum if he would support efforts to hold charter schools accountable he blew past this question to declare that the way to improve our education system was to support public schools. Compare this attitude to Larry Elder's proposal to make more education funds available for charter-school fraud by enacting a voucher system.
The Secretary of State has already sent out the vote-by-mail ballots and they will arrive in your mailbox in the coming days. Make sure to return yours quickly to ensure that your "no" vote is counted along with your choice for a replacement in case the recall succeeds. These two actions are the only ways to ensure that Trump's party does not take over California. If you don't think that could happen, just remind yourself that Arnold Schwarzenegger was not supposed to win, but he did. We are still cleaning up from that mess.
Carl Petersen is a parent advocate for students with special education needs and public education. He is an elected member of the Northridge East Neighborhood Council and serves as the Education Chair. As a Green Party candidate in LAUSD's District 2 School Board race, he was endorsed by Network for Public Education (NPE) Action. Dr. Diane Ravitch has called him "a valiant fighter for public schools in Los Angeles." For links to his blogs, please visit www.ChangeTheLAUSD.com. Opinions are his own.
