City Clerk Therese Pac said her office is still checking over the more than 4,300 signatures submitted last month in a bid to force a referendum on the proposed chief operating officer for City Hall.
Pac also defended her handling of the issue, which some criticized sharply because of her insistence that the petition gatherers have their own signatures notarized if organizers wanted them to count.
“It’s my duty to make sure it gets done properly,” Pac said.
Organizers needed to turn in slightly less than 3,200 valid signatures in order to require an Election Day referendum on the proposal to have the city create a sort of city manager-lite who would oversee administrative matters currently done by the mayor.
After city councilors rejected the Charter Revision Commission’s unanimous recommendation to create the position, supporters fanned out to collect signatures that would put the proposal on the ballot anyway.
Pac said she learned two weeks into the campaign – during a Saturday afternoon conversation at a vegetable stand – that those pushing for the referendum were collecting petitions that hadn’t been notarized properly.
As soon as she heard it, she said, she let organizers know the rules so they would have plenty of time to fix the problem.
City Councilor Ken Cockayne said at the time that he was upset the city was “changing the rules in the middle of the game" to make it harder on those handling the petition drive.
Others went further, accusing Pac of trying to torpedo the entire effort.
Pac said this week that if she wanted to undermine the petition drive, all she had to do was remain mum. Then all of the petitions would have been thrown out and the referendum would be a dead issue.
Pac said that because she spoke up, organizers were able to turn in nearly 260 pages of signatures – all notarized properly.
“The defect was fixed,” she said, and isn’t an issue.
Cockayne said he doesn’t agree with everything that Pac said in her defense.
But, he said, he doesn’t want to elaborate on his concerns while the clerk’s office is reviewing the signatures.
*******
Copyright 2008. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com
Gee it didn't happen to be that stand she visted right after the Ward 2009 campaign meeting was it?
ReplyDeleteActually, it was former Republican city Councilor Whit Betts' stand at the farmer's market at the mall.
ReplyDeleteIf she wasn't correct, why did the petitioners correct their deficiency?
ReplyDeleteCockayne, you are full of it!!
C'mon Kenny II, tell us what the City Clerk is wrong about.
ReplyDeleteAre you saying she is lying???
Hmm, Therese Pac's version or Ken Cockayne's version - I think I am gonna stick with the Clerk on this one and just watch Kenny's tantrum develop.
ReplyDelete~ Once again, these gents owe Ms. Pac a HUGE apology!
ReplyDeletePac, working to protect the Unions!!
ReplyDeleteTherese Pac is not even in a union.
ReplyDelete"You're right on target Ken"
ReplyDeleteRight on target? HAHAHAHAHAHA! Kenny couldn't find his own butt with both hands, a map and a flashlight. Ms. Pac saves the day for him and his buddies, and they're still trying to blame her for their sloppy, inept handling of the petition...Kenny boy is WAY off target.
Pac, working to protect Bristol!!
ReplyDeleteKen appears to be way off base on this one. If he has anything he should put up or shut up. To dangle something but say "I can't reveal it now" is an old Nixon / Joe McCarthy trick.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if Pac would get appointed again with the next Republican mayor - I bet not
ReplyDelete"Therese Pac is not even in a union.
ReplyDeleteAugust 14, 2008 10:04 AM"
--Sure she is. Why don't you wake up?
To the person that mentioned McCarthy and Cockayne:
ReplyDeleteWhen you mention McCarthy in conjunction with Cockayne, please clarify whether you mean Joseph McCarthy or Charlie McCarthy (or both).
Hey, 12:21 PM, sorry to burst your bubble but Therese Pac - like several other department heads (e.g., Comptroller, Public Works Director) - is NOT a member of any union. Looks like you're the one who needs to WAKE UP! Or perhaps go back to sleep....
ReplyDeleteAugust 14, 2008 7:52 PM:
ReplyDeleteHey jerk, they're in a dept head union. Swicklis is the head. Time to get educated you dope (albeit you're a lost cause).
What department is Pac the head of? Is it the Department of Political Hacking?
ReplyDeleteSorry once again, Mr. 8:44 PM, but you are WRONG, WRONG, WRONG!! Yes, Ed Swicklas is the head of the city union that represents much of the city's professional and supervisory staff, but Therese Pac and certain other department heads aren't members of it or any other city union.
ReplyDeleteI challenge you to call City Hall and get the straight story. My guess is that when I'm proven right and you're proven wrong, you won't have the cajones to acknowledge your error on this forum.
This was a great effort, but we all know that it will get bloacked one way or another.
ReplyDeleteSay what you will, none of us know the full story and probably never will. It is probably a little of both.
BTW - Cockayne for Mayor!
August 14, 2008 9:19 PM;
ReplyDeleteOh who cares? She's still a hack for the Dumb-o-crats because that's who she owes her job to. Wake up yourself!
Yeah, never let the facts get in the way of a good old-fashioned ad hominem hatchet job....
ReplyDeleteSteve, There is a story going around City Hall that Kenny C's sister signed the petition twice. Once with a Union Street address, and once with a different street address. Maiden name and married names used - same date of birth. Might be worth looking into, might be just a fictional story. Have fun..
ReplyDelete~ Oh who cares? We do!! You go shooting your mouth off making stupid (false) allegations without having the smallest clue. It would appear the real "hack" around here is you (and your boy Kenny). Wake up ~ you ALL owe Ms. Pac a huge public apology.
ReplyDeleteIf Art had any class, and was a manager that supported his staff, he would meet with Pac and Clift and get the facts, and then INFORM the PUBLIC as what is correct.
ReplyDeleteNo, instead, he lets his staff twist in the wind (except for Rosenthal).
August 15, 2008 9:13 AM:
ReplyDeleteAll Pac is owed is a pink slip (of the paper kind).
She owes everyone who organized and signed the (perfectly legal and appropriate petition) an apology.
She owes Bristol an apology!
11:02 ~ If Kenny and company had any class (or brains) he/they would meet with Ms. Pac, find out what the facts really are, apologize profusely to her for insulting her and making her job much more difficult with their sloppy handling of the petition, and then INFORM the public.
ReplyDeleteGeez, first these fools try to pass the buck to Ms. Pac for their own shoddy performance and now it's Mr. Ward's job to clean up after them? It's time for these boys to step up to the plate and take responsibility for their own mess, don't you think?
Although I believe Pac is for the Dumb-o-crats, and I believe there may have been some effort on her and the administration to kill the petition, she's still just as good as any of the other incompetent city clerks in other cities and towns.
ReplyDeleteOf course Rosenthal got protection he was Ward's Funbd Raiser in Chief
ReplyDeletePoster 7:53, or I mean Pac!
ReplyDeleteIs this is true have you ever considered since his sister just got married she didn't know what name she was under and knew one of them would be thown out!!
Pac try doing your job instead of working for the unions. If this is true, your the only one who could have "leaked" this.
11:02 - and then ward would be accused of trying to sway the process - why don't you get your head out of your butt and breathe some sense into your cavity - it sure is empty enough to put something in it.
ReplyDelete12:35 ~ Could you possibly be any thicker? The petition was handled incorrectly by the petitioners, NOT Ms. Pac. The petitions were left unattended by the petitioners, NOT Ms. Pac. The petition was NOT organized and signed in a perfectly legal and appropriate way because the petitions were left unattended and that was against the rules. Ms. Pac now is responsible for cleaning up the huge mess that the PETITIONERS made. She is definitely NOT to blame for this fiasco. The PETITIONERS ARE! They owe Ms. Pac and the City a HUGE apology!!!
ReplyDelete"Poster 7:53, or I mean Pac!"
ReplyDeleteOnce again ~ you assume! Haven't you learned your lesson yet? Before you go giving a piece of your mind, make sure you've got some to spare...sounds like you're probably running a little low in that department! ;-}
Either Cockaynes sister changed her name at the registrars, or she didn't.
ReplyDeleteIf she is anything like her brother, she doesn't have a clue.
A phone call certainly would have clarified how she is registered.
C'mon Kenny II, tell us what the City Clerk is wrong about.
ReplyDeleteAre you saying she is lying???
August 13, 2008 9:29 PM
Lawyer Clift is embarasingly quiet, isn't he?
ReplyDeleteOr is he beholden to the unions like Ward is?
Or is he taking direction from Minor?
The unattended petitions were not turned in.
ReplyDelete4:16 PM ~ Oh, so now it's Mr. Clift's fault? Uh, lets see now ~ first it was Ms. Pac's, then Mr. Ward's, and now it's Mr. Clift's fault? Why can't you just be honest, straighten up that backbone, take responsibility for your actions and admit....oops, wait a second. Sorry, I forgot who I was talking to. Nevermind.
ReplyDeletePac for Mayor!
ReplyDeleteClift is the lawyer: he SHOULD be able to interpret and explain the law.
ReplyDeleteOr is he being gagged?
Why don't we just put the question of who's at fault here: Ward, Pac, Clift, COCKayne,Johnson, Yarde or whoever else on the November ballot?
ReplyDeleteAugust 15, 2008 2:19 PM:
ReplyDeleteYou're a liar. The petitions were never left unattended.
Ms Pac is simply a hack.
Uh, sorry to burst your tiny bubble 6:20, but there's no dispute that some of the petitions were left unattended. Keep grasping at those straws though!
ReplyDeleteBTW ~ The ONLY hacks here were Kenny & Co.
Suddenly both Kennys are awful quiet.
ReplyDeleteOr are they scheming their next move?
August 16, 2008 10:39 AM:
ReplyDeleteWRONG again mr/ms Democrat Hack.
According to the rules set forth before the petitions were handed out, each "administrator" was to ensure that NO petitions were left unattended.
And if they were as you say, why were all the signitures (some 4200) approved by the Notaries?
YOU DON'T EVEN MAKE ANY SENSE 10:39 AM. GO BACK TO YOUR HOLE AND STAY THERE!
Hey cockayne addict,
ReplyDeleteLOL...Sounds like you've got those panties in a twist yet again. Before you break an arm trying to pat Kenny on the back, Ms. Pac is the one who saved the day for your clueless leader. Will he be apologizing to her soon?
Pac the Hack!!
ReplyDeleteYou can keep repeating it 3:17...it's not true, but maybe if you keep saying it, it'll take some of the heat off of the fools who are really the hacks... and we all know who they are now, don't we?
ReplyDeleteI am sure that all of the NOTARIES never broke any of the rules that go with that job RIGHT
ReplyDeletePac is definately a HACK!
ReplyDeleteGosh, it's a good thing Pac rhymes with hack, otherwise you fools wouldn't be able to come up with anything to say.
ReplyDelete