Infighting, heated accusations, players being ousted. It sounds like a television reality show, but it's the stuff of small-town politics.
Hughson last week voted out the majority of its City Council.
Riverbank has to schedule a special election because a councilman -- facing felony drug charges -- failed to show at recent meetings.
A standoff in Waterford three years ago nearly led to a special election when council members couldn't agree on appointing a new member.
In small cities, politics quickly can become personal.
"What happens in small towns is that there isn't a political class that, in a sense, lives apart or can be apart," said Professor Bob Benedetti, director of University of the Pacific's Jacoby Center for Public Service, which works with local governments. "They live with everybody and everybody sees them."
The lack of separation, he said, makes elected officials in smaller communities "responsive but also vulnerable."
Bill Mattos, a longtime resident of Newman and former member of the Stanislaus County Board of Supervisors, has seen both sides. He agreed that small-town residents have a direct line to the people they elect.
"For the people who live there, they can get the word to their leaders in very quick order and usually the leaders, if they're savvy at all, can figure out what the community's thinking," Mattos said. "You don't need to do a poll in Newman. If you walk to every house in Newman you're probably going to win."
While it can mean an easier path to election, it can be an quicker road to extinction.
"In big cities, you have to have a group to mobilize an opposition," Benedetti said. "In a small town it can be an individual. If I get mad at Joe, I can go and get 150 people and he's gone."
In Hughson, Thom Crowder was "Joe." Crowder, who served off and on as a councilman and mayor for 14 years, was among three targeted by a successful recall election last week.
"In a small town, word passes quickly and you don't have that type of anonymity you do in a larger city," Crowder said. "Rumor mills are alive and well in small communities."
A group of residents sought the ouster of Crowder and Councilmen Doug Humphreys and Ben Manley after a Stanislaus County civil grand jury last year accused them of discussing city business by e-mail and conspiring to fire former City Manager Joe Donabed.
Crowder, who has denied any wrongdoing, said the election showed only how little work it takes to remove someone from office in a small city. Though nearly 90 percent of voters favored ousting the councilmen, he pointed out that only 37 percent of eligible voters participated.
He said several people have called him saying they didn't vote because they didn't take the recall seriously. For his part, Crowder didn't fight the recall. His term ends in November, and he didn't file to keep his seat.
"In retrospect, if I'd mounted a campaign, could I have won? Yeah, I think so," he said. "But I'm ready to let bygones be bygones, and I wish the new council the best of luck."
Mattos said that while having more direct communication with residents is generally positive for council members, there is risk.
"It's a different atmosphere," he said. "If you get too smart for your own good and get a little arrogant and let power go to your head -- you're not going to last."
Charles Turner, who served four terms as Waterford's mayor, agreed. "You have lifelong relationships in small towns," he said. "That can be a benefit or can be a disaster."
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