RSM Councilman Tony Beall: Recall Or Resign?
The Recall Councilman Beall Facebook page posted a poll the other day that asked an interesting question about embroiled city councilman Tony Beall, who is currently facing both a recall and FPPC complaint and how things might proceed, you can see it in this screenshot:
That got me thinking about how this could all play out, so let’s engage in some speculation and prognostication, first some speculation. It has been my personal belief since Tony was re-elected in 2016 along with Carol Gamble, that he and Councilwoman Gamble (who is facing her own FPPC investigation) would not run again and were trying to time things out so they could vote to rezone Dove Canyon Plaza to residential and then leave office with some sort of follow up deal in place with the developers, considering that is what both of their day jobs involve, it isn’t a huge leap to believe it, but again, speculation on my part. I’ve written on the Dove Canyon Plaza rezone topic extensively already, so I won’t revisit the details here.
To further substantiate my prediction that Tony wouldn’t run again, I’ve had multiple people over the last 5 months who personally know him and his wife (facing her own set of issues as an elected official) say that they were told that Tony does not plan to run again in 2020, so that almost makes the recall effort seem like it isn’t worth the effort, however…. Keep in mind the timeline as it relates to the election and Dove Canyon Plaza. If we believe that Tony is part of an assured 3 vote majority to rezone, then he needs to be removed as soon as possible to keep that vote from happening. Since the developer got their initial plans kicked back this provides more of a window to get Tony out of office before a critical vote. I will say though that there has been such a huge outpouring of pushback from residents that these politicians who are accustomed to doing things without scrutiny, might be having second thoughts on their plans.
So what are some scenarios that can play out now? The recall effort needs about 5,600 valid signatures to force a recall. I know they can get 2,000–3,000 with relative ease and there is a very good chance they can get the required signatures given the recent erratic and unhinged behavior of Councilman Beall. It costs the city money to validate the signatures and to hold the special election, that should not be a concern to residents interested in the recall, because that is how democracy works, it should only be a concern to Beall and how much he wants to cling to power.
Beall can do one of two things at that point, he can wait it out, and have the city pay to validate the signatures and hold the special election, or he can step down. Odds are extremely high that he would lose the recall election because the only people showing up for that special election are the ones that want him recalled and it is the only thing they are voting on. That would be a humiliating way to end his 20 years in politics/government. By stepping down, he is able to save some face and at least pretend to be gracious. He can say something like “I don’t want to be the cause of strife within the city I love so much, since I wasn’t going to run anyway, I’m going to retire to my 2nd home in Cabo and save the city the expense and anguish of this special election.”.
The burden of the city expense lies with Beall, not with the residents, he can do the right thing and leave office and the sooner he does it the better. His current campaign of attacking private individuals under the color of authority as a city councilman, from the dais, and on social media, is causing havoc in our quiet city. Beall has gone for too many years with no one paying attention to his activities. He operates in the shadows and takes out his enemies through abuse of power and authority of his office. Tony, do the right thing and just step down now because as I think about it, it’s the best option you have, you have left far too many bodies in your wake over the years and it is all welling up now, the breaking news is just going to get worse and worse as the recall wears on.
