Some in Tiverton may have reason to be frustrated with their Town Council, but this ‘fire the lot of them’ reaction scarcely fits the crime.

Petitions are making the rounds calling for the ouster of no fewer than three councilors. (That’s nothing —petitioners in Westport tried to fire their whole Board of Selectmen awhile back for a perceived wrong-headed vote on a needle exchange center.)

First targeted in Tiverton was councilor Joe Sousa, then came Denise deMedeiros and Dave Perry.

Mr. Sousa is accused of having “failed to represent in a positive and professional manner the wishes and will of the citizens” of Tiverton. No specifics are offered but Mr. Sousa is known to interrupt sometimes at meetings and to say startling things.

Ms. deMedeiros “exhibits no transparency and poor conduct for a councilor,” the petition states. Specifically, she failed to reel in firefighter overtime fast enough and has been seen smoking on school grounds.

Mr. Perry also “exhibits poor conduct for a councilor” and “has failed to represent the interests of the townspeople.” His misdeeds include voting for Tiverton Crossings.

However egregious this all may be, recall is overreaction. While towns need a mechanism to weed out the bad apples, recall ought to be the weapon of last resort — reserved for real malfeasance not differences of opinion or bad meeting manners.

Had councilors been caught with their hands in the till, recall would be in order.

Had they accepted favors from contractors, rigged the bidding process, handed out jobs to next of kin, or otherwise violated the public trust, then by all means recall.

But to recall over disagreements, no matter how profound, sends a chilling message. It tells future boards of the price to be paid for taking the unpopular stand, riling the majority or venturing too far out onto any limb. Since progress usually requires such courage, it sets the stage for stagnation.

Recall also diminishes general election, a deliberate process that should not be set aside lightly.

These councilors will have to answer to the voters soon enough. If people are still sufficiently riled by then, they can vent at the polls without the cost of lawyers and special election that a recall would bring.

As in Westport, Tiverton will be the winner if cooler heads prevail.