As the fires continue to burn in Los Angeles, a petition to recall Mayor Karen Bass has gathered nearly 150,000 signatures. In California, a petition like this can lead to real political change, because the state allows citizens to recall their elected officials before their terms expire. Right now, Illinois voters have virtually no real mechanisms for accountability when a politician breaks their trust or fails in their duties, other than waiting until Election Day.  But Brandon Johnson’s brutal polling — the mayor’s approval rating sat at around 15% at last check — has raised the issue of recall in the public mind in a way we don’t recall seeing before. It should surprise few, given the self-serving nature of so many of our state and city’s past political leaders, that there’s no practical opportunity to recall officeholders in Illinois. We think time has come to give Illinois voters the power to collect enough signatures to trigger a special election on ousting an elected official, but only with appropriate safeguards built in. In the case of Johnson, we’ve already seen a long-shot attempt despite the lack of an explicit mechanism to recall Chicago’s mayor. Daniel Boland last April launched a convoluted, two-pronged process, garnering headlines and an angry retort from the mayor, which apparently has fizzled out. The good news for Boland and other frustrated Chicagoans is there is some movement in Springfield on this front. State Rep. La Shawn Ford, D-Chicago, introduced legislation this month to allow voters to recall the mayor of Chicago. Across the aisle, Republican Rep. Dan Ugaste of St. Charles filed two bills, one a constitutional amendment that would cover all state offices and the other a bill to apply recall provisions to all local government officials. Asked whether this is an opportunity for bipartisanship on this question, Ford told us yes. The Chicago representative first filed recall legislation in 2015 aimed at then-Mayor Rahm Emanuel following the delayed release of the horrific video evidence of Laquan McDonald’s shooting death by Chicago police Officer Jason Van Dyke. Ford has continued to push for a mayoral recall process since then, and we commend the representative for his consistency on this issue regardless of who’s sitting on the fifth floor. Among the 15 largest cities in the U.S., Chicago is one of just four that does not allow for mayoral recall elections. Even in places where recall is available, it’s rare to see an elected official kicked out of office. Oakland, California, recalled its mayor in 2024; likewise, the progressive prosecutor in Oakland’s Alameda County was removed by county voters. In 2011, voters ousted Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Alvarez. But those examples are the exception. While we believe there needs to be a process for Illinois voters to remove officials, we caution against signature thresholds that are too easy to meet. Better to have no recall powers than overly lenient ones. An environment where officials face a constant threat of removal from office, which can distract them from the hard work of governing, leads to a perpetual campaign mode that isn’t healthy for democracy. Poorly drafted recall legislation could also be exploited by special interest groups that are able to rally large numbers of voters — think the Chicago Teachers Union and their army of nearly 30,000 members. California in 2022 updated its recall rules to make it harder to initiate a recall election after Gov. Gavin Newsom easily beat back a recall effort the year before. That said, we’re confident there is a way to give Illinois voters this important say by establishing petition thresholds that are appropriately challenging but not insurmountable. Let’s be clear: Even if legislation passes in Springfield, an acknowledged long shot, new rules wouldn’t come in time to give Johnson’s detractors a realistic time frame to act. He is up for reelection in two years. And this choice should not be about any single unpopular politician anyway. The public wants government that is serious about honesty, accountability and fairness. Democrats and Republicans would earn deserved gratitude from voters for advancing a recall process that gives it to them. Submit a letter, of no more than 400 words, to the editor here or email [email protected].