City Councilor Ken Cockayne said that most of the chief operating officer petitions that were circulated in recent weeks have been signed in front of a notary public.
He said he spent most of the day tracking down circulators and seeing others in his office.
Cockayne said that he's not concerned that the more than 4,000 signatures collected won't be counted because of problems with notarizing the petitions.
He said that a dozen notaries offered to help him witness petition signings and about 30 people came to his office today to sign the petitions themselves.
Organizers expect to deliver the petitions to the city clerk next week, before the July 31 deadline.
After they're delivered, the clerk's office has the unenviable job of checking to make sure at least about 3,200 signatures are valid and from registered voters in Bristol. It will take awhile.
On a personal note, I want to say that I'm disgusted with some of the things people have written in their comments on this blog about City Clerk Therese Pac, who has always been a professional in her dealings with me and, as far as I know, with others. I've had to kill a number of especially vile comments about her that are so inappropriate that I am frankly staggered that people would write them. Why are some of the anonymous posters on here so eager to write sickening crap about women?
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Copyright 2008. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com
34 comments:
Steve, my compliments to you for your comments about Therese Pac.
I agree.
She has been and is a professional, does not play politics and does a super job for the city of Bristol
Were any of the forms rejected?
Rejected by who? They haven't been submitted yet.
See, all that whining and crying for nothing. The notary requirment is clearly not that onerous yet it protects the validity of the process.
You have to be kidding. This "notary requirement" at the last minute is a prime example of government bullying. Sure Pac's a professional, a professional hack.
Again; Craig, get your best lawyer and sue the city gov't.
Steve: As I'm sure you well know,this is what happens when cowards are given the oppurtunity to hide behind a curtain of anonymity.Consider the source and simply ignore them.You are quite correct,Therese has always been and continues to be a class act.
I guess the question is: was any one reluctant to state and swear that they observed all the signings?
Or something like that?
Steve thank you for showing some empathy for the targets of some of the twisted people on this site. Therese Pac doens't deserve it, Ellen Zoppo-Sassu didn't deserve it either. Both strong women, apparantly some people have a problem with that or are trick to the trigger. Everyone can disagree, there is no need to take it to a personal side.
Oh I am sure there will be some sort of law suit I bet they will lead to a charter change with in the city regarding petitions
To be fair here. Was there a set of written rules that had to be followed or were the rules changed once the signatures were gathered? Did the City Clerk do here part to educate the group on what was required?
Maybe now Mr. Cockayne can call off his pack of over zealous attack dogs and let Ms. Pac finish cleaning up his mess. Some of his supporters are incredibly obnoxious and more than a little scary.
It is not up to the City Clerk to "educate" the petioners.
I am quite confident that she answered all their questions as she does for everyone.
If they didn't ask, or didn't ask the right questions, thenthe fault is theirs.
However, we seem to be dealing with a pompous bunch of know-it-alls, who just went ahead and did their thing.
And they want to run the city???/
It is up to the City Clerk to have a published set of rules regarding the petition process. It is called being part of the job. Otherwise as in this particular case it looks as if the rules are being made up on the fly. We out a written process you end up with a she/he said -- she/he said situation.
"Maybe now Mr. Cockayne can call off his pack of over zealous attack dogs and let Ms. Pac finish cleaning up his mess"
--There's no reason why there should be a notorization on tghe signitures. Do auto dealers have their contracts notorized? This is thuggish city gov't at it's worse.
--Sure Ms. Pac is a decent clerk, but Rowland was a decent governor and he went to jail...so what?
Sure Ms. Pac is a decent clerk, but Rowland was a decent governor and he went to jail...so what?
Rowland wasn't decent. That's why he went to jail
Why is it up to the clerk to have a set of written rules?
They all exist as statutes, ordinances or the like.
Does your mommy stil hold your hand for you?
Sooner or later (later for some) we have to accept repsonsibility for our actions.
I'm sure Pac and her union boy's behind her will find some other reason why they can't be counted.
You try and figure out the procedure for a petition drive. The statues give the number of voters need and who can sign, but does not spell out how the petition needs to be formulate or presented. Their is also 2 different guidlines for an Intiative and a referendum, which I bet most people could not tell what the difference is, even after they read the statue. To make things more confusing this petition falls under the state statue which have even less guidance. Here is the link to the city charter and what it says about these process, nowhere does it talk about the format of the petition.
Sec. 50. Initiative and removal.
Special meetings of the electors for the purpose of voting on any proper question, including the removal from office of any appointee of the city council, may be called at any time by the mayor or by the city council, and shall be called whenever electors to the number of ten per cent of the electors who were entitled to vote at the last general city election shall petition that such meeting be called. The signatures to such a petition need not all be appended to one paper, but each signer shall add to hissignature a statement of his place of residence, giving the street and number, if any. One of the signers of the petition shall make oath before an officer competent to administer oaths that each signature appended to such paper is the genuine signature of the person whose name it purports to be. Within five days from the filing of such petition with the town clerk, said town clerk shall ascertain if such petition is signed by the regular number of qualified electors, and he shall attach to such petition acertificate showing the result of such examination. If, by said clerk's certificate, the petition be found to be insufficient, it may be amended within ten days from the date of such certificate. The clerk shall make like examination of the amended petition, and, if his certificate shall show the same to be insufficient, it shall be returned to the person filing the same, without prejudice to the filing of a new petition to the same effect. If the petition shall be found to be sufficient, the clerk shall, without delay, submit the same to the city council. The petition for each electors' meeting shall state specifically the resolution or resolutions it is desired to have submitted to vote at such meeting. Upon receipt of such petition, the city council shall either (a) pass such resolution or resolutions without alteration, within twenty days after attachment of the clerk's certificate to the accompanying petition, in which case the petition shall become of no effect, or (b) if the petition shall not have been withdrawn in a written statement signed by a majority of the signers of the original petition, call a special meeting of the electors within thirty days unless a general municipal election is to be held within ninety days thereafter; and at such special or general meeting, the resolution or resolutions shall be submitted to a vote of the electors of said city. All votes at the meetings of the electors shall be taken by the check list at the polling places in the several voting districts. The registrars ofvoters shall have power to appoint such election officers as are necessary. The question of the passage of any such resolution shall be designated on the voting machine, or on the ballot, if required, in the following words "for the resolution" (stating the nature of the proposed resolution). At the close of the election, the votes registered or ballots cast shall be counted immediately and the result in each voting district shall be declared by the moderator. The moderator of the first voting district shall declare the general result on this and all other elections and he shall certify such results to the town clerk forthwith. The registrars shall, if requested, appoint one challenger from each side of the matter to be voted upon. If a majority of the qualified electors voting upon any proposed resolution shall vote in favor thereof, such resolution shall thereupon become a valid resolution of the city and any resolution proposed by petition, or which shall be adopted by vote of the people, shall not be repealed or amended except by vote of the people.
(Amend., eff. 12-8-05)
Legislative history--Sp. No. 352, § 66, 1911; Sp. No. 434, § 138, 1931; Sp. No. 489, § 52, 1939; Sp. No. 188, 1955.
Sec. 51. Referendum.
No ordinance passed by the city council, as authorized by this charter, shall go into effect before fourteen days from the date of its publication in a newspaper of general circulation in the city, except when otherwise required by the general statutes or in case of a measure for the immediate preservation of public peace, health or safety, which contains a statement of its urgency. If, during such fourteen days, a petition signed by at least five per cent of the qualified electors, protesting against the passage of such ordinance, shall be presented to the city clerk, the same shall thereupon be suspended from operation and the council shall reconsider such measure, and, if it be not entirely repealed, the council shall submit such ordinance to the vote of the electors of the city, either at the general municipal election or at a special election to be called for that purpose, and such ordinance shall not go into effect unless a majority of the qualified electors voting thereon shall vote in favor thereof. The sufficiency of such petition shall be determined, the election ordered and conducted and the result declared as provided in section fifty hereof, so far as said provisions may be applicable.
(Amend., eff. 12-8-05)
Legislative history--Sp. No. 352, § 67, 1911; Sp. No. 280, 1915; Sp. No. 434, § 139, 1931; Sp. No. 489, § 53, 1939.
This is the city Charter section on the 2 procedures. I will look for the state one also.
"Fire Pac in 2009 said..."
~ My, my, my...I see you're STILL trying to use Ms. Pac as the sacrificial lamb to take the heat off Ken & crew for their bumbling ineptness. You'd think at least one of them would have done the research and learned the intricacies of the law concerning petitions ~ duh? Obviously, that didn't happen. If you want to throw rocks, throw em in your own back yard (i-gan), cuz that's where they belong.
"Did the City Clerk do here part to educate the group on what was required?"
She's NOT a teacher ~ She's the City Clerk. These are big boys who want to play in the big league. It was definitely their responsibility to educate themselves. If you honestly think that they needed someone to hold their hand and walk them through the process, how can you still respect them and support them as leaders?
10:00 you definately have an anger issue.
The last thing anyone could every call Therese Pac is a "hack".
Just because you don't like her decision to ensure that petition circulators truly understand the oath they are swearing to regarding the signatures being obtained with witness, doesn't mean she is a "hack".
She had the power to make the decision, she made the decision and she is sticking by it.
If the petition process was better organized, had a validation check in place and rules were not broken, she wouldn't have felt the need for the notarized signatures.
The petition drive lost it credentials very quickly out of the gate.
Q: "Why are some of the anonymous posters on here so eager to write sickening crap about women?"
A: What is misogyny?
mi·sog·y·ny – noun
hatred, dislike, or mistrust of women.
July 24, 2008 2:31 PM
With all your "statue" references, you must be in the wrong blog. Did you mean to be commenting on "Colapietro finds state help to fix Hiker statue" or are you just an illiterate who doesn't know the difference between a statute and a statue?
The "statute" seems fairly straight forward, unless of course you're someone who supported Mayor Back-Ward, and if so, that would explain much about your revealing post.
Ya gotta know to grow, Bozo (no insult to the actual "Bozo The Clown," Larry Harmon, intended, may he rest in peace).
2:32 - ??????????????????????
Therese Pac is a good person, I have had a few dealings with her, very smart girl.
Ellen Zoppo still the mean person she was and that people complained about during the electio.
Is she talking to Artie YET?
Nice play on the spelling! Funny post too, with a great Colapietro reference. Illiterate is a little over kill though don't you think? I mean that would mean I couldn't even type or read. Still funny, though! Good one!
Sorry, I'm mistaken. I was basing my argument on the definition below, particularly entry two.
il·lit·er·ate:
1: having little or no education; especially : unable to read or write "an illiterate population"
2 a: showing or marked by a lack of familiarity with language and literature "an illiterate magazine" b: violating approved patterns of speaking or writing
3: showing or marked by a lack of acquaintance with the fundamentals of a particular field of knowledge "musically illiterate"
synonyms see ignorant
After a short reflection on your question, I believe you are right. Please replace the word "illiterate" with "functional illiterate," see below.
~ functional illiterate: a person who has had some schooling but does not meet a minimum standard of literacy
"Still funny, though!"
Funny, and yet a little sad, too. C'est La Vie!
I think you are funny, in that you must love to show off your “superior” knowledge of the English language, and then call me illiterate, which is far from the truth. I think a good word to describe your ramblings is pompous, maybe self-important works better. Not really sure, maybe you could help me with that one as you seem to be the expert in insulting people? Regardless, you are yet to actually tell us, that based on the above statute, what information is required on a petition. Seeing as you like to point out lines and then critique them maybe you could back your research up with the lines from the above Statute. If not? Then maybe you were just having a bad day yesterday.
I also am not a Ward supporter and did help get signatures for the petition drive.
What do you mean, "Is she talking to Artie YET?" He's avoiding her!!! He was afraid to go Tom Colapietro fundraiser last week because it was at Ellen's house. He was afraid she might ask him a question and he wouldn't have Ed Krawicki there to answer it for him!!
Again, the question is, is there a set of written rules one must follow in order to circulate a petition that anyone can obtain from the City Clerk?
It just sounds like the rules are being made up on the fly. Where did the notary requirement come from and is it documented in a written procedure that any can follow?
4:17 ~ Pul-eeeeze...we're all just so beyond this crap. Try to join us in the grown-up world and GET OVER IT. I think even Ellen must by rolling her eyes by now.
Yeah, she's probably rolling her eyes. You're closing yours.
ellen rols her eyes at anyone whom she doesn't like or agree with so nothing has changed there -
11:00 PM ~ You're right. I am closing my eyes. Your redundant, pointless comments are putting me to sleep...ZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
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