The following is a copy of a letter to Dean Logan, Los Angeles County recorder.
As a long-time resident of Los Angeles County and a former precinct volunteer for the county, I am requesting that impartial observers be allowed to watch the verification process whereby the 717,000 signatures on the District Attorney George Gascón recall petition are counted, verified, and certified with full transparency.
Doing so will help dispel the feeling among many residents of the Santa Clarita Valley that the county is “picking winners” and that the overall recall and election process is tainted. The old adage that “honest people have nothing to hide,” along with the county Registrar/Recorder’s obligation to conduct all elections (including recall efforts, which are a significant aspect of elections) ethically and with transparency, are very much in play for the Gascón recall effort.
With over 40 years working for a local government (several of which were spent working alongside the county on shared environmental issues and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act process), I am all too aware that, in the eyes of the electorate, “perception is reality.” And the perception right now, with the verification of the signatures process being closed to observers (without a clear justification), is that something is amiss.
Given the above, please do your duty and help give the county’s residents confidence that the system, and the civil servants whose job it is to properly and impartially manage that system, are transparent, ethical, honest and supportive of the democratic process.
William Creitz
Valencia
