Chamber Of Commerce Opposes Recall Effort

The governing board of the Greater El Paso Chamber of Commerce said it is opposing a local group’s effort to recall Mayor John Cook, city Rep. Steve Ortega and city Rep. Susie Byrd.

El Pasoans for Traditional Family Values is upset over the El Paso City Council’s vote to restore domestic partner benefits to straight and gay partners of city employees, despite a recent general election vote to prohibit it. The group needs more than 7,500 signatures by mid-September to get an election recall on the May 2012 ballot.

But there is some resistance against the group, such as the Greater El Paso Chamber of Commerce, which issued a statement Tuesday openly opposing the election recall.

The recall “can dilute its effectiveness and can cause greater harm than good,” the statement said.

The Chamber says it respects the right to recall, but it will not be supporting “a recall election effort at this time.”