Monday, April 5, 2010

My Encounter With A Petition Signature Gatherer

I finally was approached by a petition signature gatherer. It happened outside the door of Albertson's on Western near Westmont.

That location is in San Pedro and I have heard that signatures were being gathered in front of other stores in San Pedro.

The gatherer I encountered first approached me about a petition dealing with the maximum number of years a person can serve in the California Assembly, Senate, or a combination of both.
Currently the maximum length of time is no more than 14 years. The petition seeks to place on the ballot a measure that removes two years from the maximum. It is a State Constitutional Amendment initiative.

The fellow had three more petitions he talked to me about, so that proved to me that he was getting paid for each and every signature gathered.

I am a Board member of R Neighborhoods Are 1. This organization took the challenge L.A. Councilwoman Janice Hahn gave us because I think she thought there was no way it could be done.

Ms. Hahn stated in public that if at least 10,000 signatures were gathered demanding that the current zoning of Ponte Vista at San Pedro remained, she would work to make sure that happened.

Now you all need to know that not on petition signature gatherer with that drive received one penny for gathering signatures.

No human on this or any planet in our Solar System received even one penny for their signature.

At last count there are more than 11,000 signatures gathered from that drive.

So it should be no wonder that I feel that if Marymount needs to use paid petition signature gatherers for their initiative's petitions, what does that say about how much they are willing to spend to get the measure on November's ballot.

The Marymount Plan petition signature gatherer told me that want to gather at least 5,000 signatures and he purported to me that many folks have signed the petition.

Of course the petition I read has ZERO signatures under the wording.

The fellow also stated that, if passed, the measure would have 500 fewer vehicles on roadways.

Now that seemed really strange to me so I asked him again about it.

The fellow also said that the residence halls would house only first and second year students and that only first and second year students would live in on-campus housing should it be built.

He also stated that the measure was also dealing with the approval to have Marymount become a four-year college. Naturally I had to correct him on that misstatement of fact.

The fellow didn't hear about the tragedy that happened to the second-year student and that individual's death at his own hands by being drunk and losing control of his vehicle within earshot and eyeshot of the Marymount Campus. The gatherer also didn't know about the near fatal collisions caused by a Marymount student colliding with the car of a resident who lives near the Marymount campus.

I will say that the fellow knew and remarked that the construction plan was a 36 month plan but would be carried out over an eight year period. He gets kudos for that knowledge.

I suppose knew from the first words of this post that I didn't sign the petition and I hope you don't either.

The fellow was humorous because he stated point blank that there were just a very few "troublemakers" opposed to the petition and on-campus housing at Marymount.

I offered to him that he was talking to the person making the most trouble and all he did was smile.

This paid signature gatherer knew that he should just stand there and smile when he finds folks who disagree with the petitions he is seeking signatures for.

So Marymount has to pay to attempt to gather 5,000 signatures when a group of unpaid volunteers gathered more than 11,000 signatures dealing with Ponte Vista at San Pedro.

Perhaps some of the volunteers who worked so hard, for so long, without getting paid a dime will come back with a petition dealing with opposition to dorms being built at Marymount and we could see who collects the most signatures.

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