Ross recall

The Review-Journal’s Benjamin Spillman reported Saturday that one man is almost single-handedly funding the campaign to oust Las Vegas City Councilman Steve Ross. Documents filed with the secretary of state show car dealer Joe Scala and his businesses have contributed more than $52,000 of the $56,112 raised for the campaign so far.

Mr. Ross refused to support a waiver that would have allowed Mr. Scala’s car dealership in Centennial Hills to remain open without a franchise agreement. Mr. Scala closed the business last year as a result.

An August recall drive fell 25 signatures short of triggering a vote, and a new recall bid is under way. The recall leaders have represented themselves as a grass-roots outfit with wide community support. In fact, it’s now clear the petition wouldn’t have legs if not for Mr. Scala, whose free-spending grudge is wildly out of the ordinary in municipal politics.

That said, it’s one thing to fund signature-gathering efforts. It’s entirely another to attempt to buy signatures or votes, and no such allegations have been made against the campaign.

Mr. Ross, meanwhile, has responded to the recall effort in a pompous, undignified fashion. Rather than show some respect for citizens’ right to petition and respond to their concerns about his shortcomings, he asserts that he’s a victim, “out there representing the people the right way.”

Please. Mr. Ross has launched an aggressive campaign to stop the recall by seeking out petition signers and asking them to reconsider, a tactic that borders on intimidation. Mr. Ross killed jobs at Mr. Scala’s business, broke a promise to decline a council pay raise and violated ethics rules by working as a union official and voting for projects that benefitted his members. If anything, he’s making petitioners’ jobs easier.

On this one, neither the petitioners nor the councilman’s camp can claim the high ground, regardless of who eventually wins.