California is one of the most expensive places to live in the world, but it compensates by offering dark comedy in the form of political entertainment. The effort to recall Gov. Gray Davis illustrates the point.

Davis apparently has chosen to ignore our advice that he resign from office, thus saving taxpayers the ,25 million it would cost for a special recall election, and saving the state the face it will lose with the nation.

Instead, Davis/ supporters took legal steps to prevent Secretary of State Keven Shelley from proceeding with the counting and certification of signatures on the recall petitions. Pro-Davis factions said many of the signatures had been gathered illegally. However, the courts shot down that argument Friday, and the signature counting will proceed.

Meanwhile, a spokeswoman for the anti-Davis campaign has been suspended from her job without pay because she apparently posed as a reporter to get into a pro-Davis press conference. She signed herself in, using a fictitious name, as a TV news reporter, so she could quickly gather information for a counter-press conference of her own on the sidewalk outside the pro-Davis press event.

Sounds a little like politics in a Third World country.

But there/s nothing funny about the struggle for the governor/s job. If enough valid signatures are certified no later than Sept. 2, the vote on whether to recall Davis will be scheduled sometime in the fall, as a stand-alone election.

Thus, the extraordinary ,25 million election expense. A cheaper variation would be if the signatures are certified later than Sept. 2, in which case the recall vote would dove-tail with the March 4, 2003 presidential primary. A fall vote favors Republicans; the March date gives the edge to Democrats. Timing is everything, politically speaking.

The recall effort, when coupled with the state/s continuing budget deficit crisis, has provoked Wall Street/s financial experts to warn that California/ credit rating is in extreme danger. If this state/s credit rating is down-graded, for whatever reason, taxpayers will take a beating from higher interest payments on state loans.

Meanwhile, there really aren/t any meaningful candidates to take Davis/ job, should the recall election be held and a majority of voters give him a thumb/s down. Despite the potential candidacy of a movie star and a former L.A. mayor, no one candidate stands out.

Although Davis still has time to resign and turn his office over to Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante, it appears he/s chosen to stand and fight. More fodder for jokes on late-night talk shows.

The Lompoc Record Editorial Board is composed of Paula M. Patton, president and publisher; Russ Stockton, editor; and Shelly Escalante-Cone, city editor.