We urge a no vote in the recall election of Oceanside City Councilman Jerry Kern.

Please do not be intimidated by the scare tactics of the proponents, including Councilwoman Esther Sanchez. Nor should you trust shadow mayor Melba Bishop, who laughably claims Kern is a threat to mobile-home residents' safety and lifestyle.

Sanchez and colleague Mayor Jim Wood (he gave $800 to the recall effort) are the elected front men for the city's police and fire unions and are intent on recapturing a voting majority on the council.

Sanchez's performance Thursday night on Oceanside's KOCT's cable public access channel program, "Journalist Roundtable," was nothing short of incredible and demeaning of her position, as when she launched into a nasty ad hominem attack on recall opponent David Shore (he apparently had his lawyer license suspended briefly once upon a time ---- a fact of no relevance to a Kern recall).

Sanchez substituted for the curiously absent Jim Sullivan, the mobile-home resident who is supposedly the "grass root" behind this union-financed recall drive. In that role, she was absurdly over the top, alleging among other things that Kern is the dictator of Oceanside, that he personally threatens the lives of Oceanside citizens, and that Kern's "conduct" in office is justification for a $500,000 special election when the seat would otherwise be up election in a mere 11 months.

But in fact, there is no misconduct or malfeasance here, only politics.

What this election is really about is the public service unions' attempt to tip the balance of power on the council before a firefighters' contract is negotiated in December. Gaining a 3-2 majority (if Kern is ousted and a Wood ally elected) would be likely to protect their numbers and their lavish pension benefits.

If this campaign succeeds, it will sow bitter seeds ---- seeds that Sanchez and Wood may someday regret reaping.