Village of Goodrich residents probably will think they have that overwhelming feeling of Déjà vu when they answer their doors in the upcoming months. The “Didn’t I just listen to this — this seems familiar?” feeling.

Well, another recall will likely begin in February, only a month after the last effort to recall four of the five village council members failed because of invalid or duplicate signatures and an improperly signed petition form. Recall supporters submitted petition language to the county clerk’s office, with a hearing before the election commission to approve or deny the language scheduled for Feb. 14.

Getting recall language approved isn’t that difficult: the election commission only verifies that the language is clear enough for people to know what they are signing. The language could have read that the four are communist sympathizers trading in black market toys and been approved (probably investigated, too).

The difficult part comes when the merry little band of recall supporters begin canvassing neighborhoods — they have to collect 199 valid signatures for each of the people they want to recall within a 90-day period. Technically, they have 180 days, but once the first signature wets a recall petition the petition circulators only have 90 days to collect the 199 signatures or they begin losing the earlier signatures for each day past 90.

I’ve written it before and I’ll write it again: recalls are blunt political tools that create divisiveness and hard feelings within the community, have unforeseen long-lasting implications, cost a lot of money and should be used in only the most extreme cases, and not for personal vendettas.

Goodrich seems to have more than a touch of recall fever — the four officials facing recall took office in 2005 after residents recalled the previous council. And there were recalls before that. Apparently, some people don’t seem to get it unless they are frequently reminded with yet another political sacrifice.

What residents need to do now is decide if a recall is warranted. The best way to do that is for people to gather information themselves and form their own opinions by attending village council meetings and see for themselves how the council — and recall proponents — operate.

If, after that, people feel it’s in the best interest of the village to proceed with the recall, then sign the petitions. Only by gathering their own information can voters make the best, educated decision on what action to take.

But don’t buy the rhetoric that the village is going broke — Goodrich still has more than 30 percent of its annual operating costs safely deposited in the village fund equity (most auditors tell municipalities they like to see a minimum of 15 percent in that fund). August is likely the earliest a recall election could be scheduled, and three council seats are up for election in November.

Stand up, speak out and work to get your leaders to listen to your wishes? Sure. Rail on and demand that people be removed from office because you don’t agree with them? No. If disagreeing with someone were justification for removing them from office, the President would have been gone long ago. What’s his approval rating, something like 32 percent?

If you elect someone, you elect them to a specified term. If you don’t like what they’re doing, vote them out when they try to run again.

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