In the latest case of pointless political theater in San Francisco, a group of activists has taken out paperwork at City Hall to try to recall Mayor Ed Lee. We’re filing their chances under the hashtags #snowball and #hell.

For starters, within 160 days the group will have to collect roughly 47,000 valid signatures of registered voters to qualify the recall for the ballot — that’s 10 percent of the 473,000 people signed up to vote in San Francisco. To do that, they’ll have to raise some money because (spoiler alert) signature gatherers for major petition drives are generally paid.

In one sense there’s no rush, because they almost certainly don’t have the time to qualify for the November ballot. That would mean a special election, which Elections Department Director John Arntz says would cost the city about $3.5 million — to vote on one issue.

And then there’s the problem that if the recall proponents manage to make it to the ballot, they’ll probably lose. That’s the conclusion of a poll commissioned by the mayor’s supporters, who are, granted, biased. But in the June poll by EMC Research, 66 percent said they would oppose a measure to recall Lee. Opposition was citywide, said pollster Ruth Bernstein, and fewer than 7 percent of those surveyed were undecided.

In listing reasons in their City Hall filing why Lee should be recalled, the organizers cited recent Police Department scandals, tax breaks for corporations, the worsening homeless crisis and the city’s hosting of “frivolous revelries” such as the America’s Cup and Super Bowl.

The organizers include Francisco Herrera, a candidate for supervisor in District 11 and a 2015 candidate for mayor. He and others involved in the effort could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

Arntz isn’t too excited about the group’s chances. He’s been Elections Department director since 2002, and “since then,” he said, “there have been three or four recall efforts and nothing has made the ballot. I don’t even think any petitions have even been circulated.”

Because that’s not the point. It’s about the political posturing. It’s probably no coincidence that another group filed a notice Tuesday to circulate a recall petition — this one in Oakland, targeted at Mayor Libby Schaaf.

There’s a pattern here. First, accuse the local police of being racist and doing a terrible job. Check, in Oakland and San Francisco. Then, launch a recall attempt of the mayor.

No one doubts that there is a legitimate discussion to be held about police shootings of African Americans around the country and in the Bay Area. But that discussion is already being held, among everyone from President Obama to demonstrators in the streets.

I’m sure Lee and Schaaf would love to right these wrongs. It isn’t as if they aren’t working on it. Both mayors have challenged their police forces, replaced chiefs and changed the rules of engagement.

But they also have to do something else — govern. Some of Lee’s people have been urging him to enter the fray and make a thundering speech. (OK, since it is Ed Lee, a slightly louder than usual speech.) They want him to call out the hypocrisy, demand collaboration and spin out a grand vision of the future.

His reply: “Just get the sales tax passed.”

He’s talking about the three-quarter-cent tax that will give $100 million to city transportation and $50 million to homeless programs. In other words, funding for two of the city’s true hot-button issues.

It’s counterintuitive — because it sounds small-scale — but it’s actually a great response. It is sensible, straightforward and puts funding where it is needed. Compared with the political posing from an outfit like the Board of Supervisors, which inflicts its internecine battles on the public by tossing competing versions of initiatives on the ballot, this has one advantage.

It will get something done.

C.W. Nevius is a San Francisco Chronicle columnist. His columns appear Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Email: cwnevius@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @cwnevius