Editor, Daily Nexus,

With a lot of attention being focused on the signature gatherers and their role in the recall effort, many people are not hearing the true facts behind the recall campaign.

First, Gail Marshall has turned her back on Isla Vista and UCSB when we needed her most. Last spring, the question before the Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO) was the Goleta cityhood proposal. Gail Marshall, the only member of the Board of Supervisors who sits on LAFCO, made many statements supporting I.V.’s inclusion. According to the Nexus (“I.V. Loses Bid for Incorporation,” May 4, 2001), Marshall declared, “This is not a decision I have made lightly – I will be voting to include I.V.” However, when it came time for her to vote on this issue, she abandoned I.V. to political pressure. She probably did not think this was going to be a big deal to I.V. residents, especially since she assumed a good portion of them would graduate before her next reelection campaign. Instances like this prove that Gail is not our local hero like she paints herself to be, but our local opportunist who cares only about her reelection.

Second, Gail Marshall’s extreme arrogance and tyrannical actions are harming our democracy. Ms. Marshall disbanded the community advisory committee here in I.V. when they did not agree with her on an issue, but she didn’t stop there. She has threatened to shut down meetings if people express themselves as they are guaranteed by the Constitution. Her recent attempt at limiting our freedom of speech was to diminish the time individuals could present to the Board of Supervisors. Why does she continually choose to discourage citizen political involvement?

Third, if you recall last spring, it was Gail Marshall’s staff that attempted to get the students to buy into the idea of party registration. A system where individuals would have to register a party three days in advance and where a house could be blacklisted if it didn’t abide by these rules. However, thanks to the hard work of some student and community leaders, Gail Marshall’s system of registering a party three days in advance and punishing houses, not individuals, for a party never materialized.

Ms. Marshall continually takes advantage of Isla Vista and our votes. She only uses I.V. support when it is politically advantageous and disregards our needs when she feels that it will not benefit her. In short, she only cares about herself and her reelection, and that is the truth behind the recall.

MARISA WRIGHT