Thursday, July 06, 2006
Blanco recall petition fails
ADVERTISER
(excerpt)
A St. Martinville woman who launched an effort earlier this year to recall Gov. Kathleen Blanco announced this morning that she will not gain enough signature by the July 10 cut-off to move forward.
Kat Landry filed a recall petition with the state on Jan. 10. By state law, she had 180 days to gain the signatures of one-third of the state's registered voters, or about 900,000 people for a recall election to be held. July 10 would be the 180th day.
"I hope that citizens came away with one important message from this recall effort," she wrote.
"The message was that we as citizens are ultimately the ones responsible for good government.
The people we elect must be educated, capable, and well intentioned.
"They must truly understand the issues that concern all our citizens and be willing to work with not only other political leaders, but also with the citizens who elected them.
"They must be willing to listen and communicate with all concerned citizens, and not just a few who are influential and politically connected.
"Can we honestly say that we have these kinds of leaders in office today? We as citizens must pay attention. We must listen not only to what political leaders say, but we must pay attention to what they actually do. "
LPNS COMMENTARY: AS MOST POLITICAL OBSERVERS KNOW, GATHERING 900,000 SIGNATURES TO RECALL A SITTING GOVERNOR IS A MONUMENTAL, IF NOT IMPOSSIBLE TASK. DOES THAT MEAN THAT BLANCO SHOULD NOT BE RECALLED? DID THE GOVERNOR LEARN FROM THE EXPERIENCE? WE WILL SOON FIND OUT.
