Time for a showdown at Houston City Hall

If all the signatures on a recall petition are certified, the future of Houston Mayor Roger Purcell will be in question.

The loudest voices in Houston and through the Valley are calling for Purcell’s ouster. Others more quietly maintain he has done a lot of good for the city. The mayor says he has been instrumental in making Houston a better place to live.

The one good thing that will come of this recall election is we will find out who’s right. Registered voters in Houston will determine the mayor’s fate. If the votes go against him, he will be left with no say in city business because if he is ousted as mayor, he is also removed from the city council.

While Mayor Purcell is taking nearly all the heat for whatever goes haywire in Houston, the city council members need to feel some fire as well.

It isn’t like they didn’t know Purcell is somewhat of a lightning rod. By putting him in the mayor’s chair they were asking for trouble, and they got it. Most only need look at the revolving door the police department uses to hire and fire officers. We’ve lost count.

And the fact that Purcell conducts himself as a police officer is just embarrassing — pulling people over in his BMW, using emergency lights on trip to Fairbanks.

The city council should have reined him in a long time ago, but the majority of those folks think he’s doing a good job. So this recall effort is as much about them as it is Purcell. For whatever reason, the mayor seems to have them in his pocket.

The real downside of this is the special election will cost Houston thousands of dollars.

It almost seems like the residents there should just wait until this fall’s scheduled election to determine whether Purcell stays or goes.

However, if petitioners get the needed signatures, and it sounds like they will, Purcell is in trouble. In the last election, 292 people voted — about 28 percent. The petition requires 73 signatures. That means 25 percent of last fall’s voters have already made up their minds. Typically, special elections don’t draw nearly as many votes as regular elections. The petitioners are shooting for 100 names to be safe. That would mean more than a third have made up their minds.

That’s quite a hill to climb for the embattled mayor.