By Linda Taaffe and Clyde Noel

A recall election of Gray Davis could be the worse of two evils, according to several local residents interviewed in downtown Los Altos last week. The comment followed the announcement July 23 that a special election will be held Oct. 7 to decide whether California’s governor will remain in office.

Seven out of eight people said they would prefer to keep Davis in office rather than spend an estimated $30 to $35 million of taxpayers’ money to hold a special election. Of the 15 residents interviewed, two said they supported the recall; 13 said they didn’t.

Organizers from the Recall Gray Davis Committee that launched the recall effort collected 41,302 valid signatures in Santa Clara County on their petition, the voter of registrars office confirmed July 23. There are about 1 million eligible voters in the county. Of those, about 45 percent are registered Democrats, 29 percent are registered Republicans. The office did not break down the signatures by city or precinct, a spokeswoman said. The recall campaign needed 897,000 signatures to qualify for a special election. The recall committee collected more than 1.3 million signatures statewide.

Finances appeared to be the No. 1 reason local residents gave for not supporting the special election.

“I think this is a huge waste of money. We had a choice of bad or worse and we chose badly in the last election. If this continues it could become even worse,” said Lynn Murphy of Los Altos, who is registered as an independent. “In times like this with the budget and economy the way it is, we should be putting our energy into getting a few things straightened out.”

Ben Gervans, a democrat from Mountain View said, “Who is going to pay for this stupidity? Do we have to raise our sales taxes another five cents for political stupidity? It’s about time we wake up and get over this political up-man-ship.”

Mary Kaye, a republican from Los Altos said, “I think it’s a great waste of money. Republicans in Washington are licking their chops. From now on, anybody who has $2 million can run a recall election. Blaming the financial situation on Davis is not the answer. Forty-eight other states are in the same predicament.”

Others criticized the recall as nothing more than political maneuvering by republicans and it is a mockery of the state’s election process.

“I think it’s terrible. California is acting like a banana republic. I don’t like it. We elected Davis and this is not how you do business. We’re the laughing stock of the nation,” said Meg Solera of Los Altos.

“The republicans are trying to accomplish a recall for what they couldn’t do in an election. What’s ridiculous is that it’s the largest vote-getter wins and there will be no runoff. I also think it’s a way to sway votes for George W. in the fall,” said Mark Fiorenza, a democrat from Palo Alto.

“Elections don’t mean a thing anymore. The republicans highjacked the White House and got away with it. They learned how to buy any office in this country. So much for democracy, your vote doesn’t have any voice anymore,” said Victoria Haslam of Los Altos Hills.

The possibility of a less qualified candidate taking over was enough to dissuade Palo Alto resident David Coffman from supporting the recall.

“If you recall the governor, you will have plenty of problems getting reorganized. After they got rid off Napoleon, that country was in a quagmire. It will get worse because every one running will want to be the leader without a party behind him,” Coffman said.

And what about the reasons to support the recall?

“I have mixed emotions because it is so close to the next election, but I would still like to see him out of there because he is doing a terrible job,” said Barbara Zepp, a republican from Los Altos Hills.

Any registered California resident who collects 69 nomination signatures or pays $3,500 may put his or her name on the ballot. The filing deadline is Aug. 9.

Since California added the initiative, referendum and recall to its constitution in 1911, there have been 31 attempts to recall governors, but this is the first time such a movement has gone to a special election ballot.