Letters to the Editor: California government is broken. That's why Newsom should be recalled

To the editor: I voted in 2003 to recall Gov. Gray Davis, and I'll vote in 2021 to recall Gov. Gavin Newsom. ("Newsom's recall is a predictable response to one-party rule," Opinion, March 16)

Why? Because the incompetence and arrogance expressed by our elected "representatives" and their hired bureaucrats in Sacramento are indefensible and inexcusable. Instead of California government getting better, it's getting worse.

Small businesses are closing or fleeing the state. The Employment Development Department paid out more than $11 billion in fraudulent claims. Homelessness is growing to obscene levels. The list of burgeoning problems and the government responses that exacerbated them goes on and on.

Many of us would like to fire or recall the whole lot of them.

Becky Davis, Goleta

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To the editor: Lanhee J. Chen's assertion that Newsom is in trouble as a result of the recall effort is misleading. In fact, the recall effort amounts to little more than an inconvenience. Newsom will easily survive it.

Further, Chen's claim that the recall is a "predictable response to one-party rule" is also flawed. Rather, the effort is a desperate attempt by the reactionary remnants of an unpopular Republican Party to disrupt the current administration's mostly effective handling of the state’s economic and health crises.

As for the prospect of two-party rule in Sacramento, we need only look at the federal government to see how the Republican Party has failed to craft sensible domestic or foreign policies, but instead thrives on obstructionist tactics and conspiracy theories to appease their misinformed constituency.

Until the Republicans are prepared to renounce the extremist elements that currently define their party, California is better off under Democratic rule.

Andrew Spathis, Los Angeles

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To the editor: I signed the recall petition early in the governor's takeover of California, and it wasn't because of his response to the COVID-19 pandemic. I was appalled at his moratorium on the state's death penalty, which we voters had approved at the ballot box in 2016.

This action showed me that Newsom had little regard for the voters of California.

Robert Stover, Huntington Beach

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To the editor: The piece by Hoover Institution fellow Chen might be more credible if the organization's members hadn't opposed both impeachment trials of former President Trump. Those were efforts to hold him accountable.

Holding Newsom accountable will occur in 2022, during the next scheduled general election.

The Hoover Institution should try to convince Republicans to get vaccinated rather than run bad op-ed articles.

Jeff Hamilton, Altadena

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.