Wentworth Attacks Texans' petitioning rights-action requested!

[Indyfriends] URGENT:  do this NOW, today or tomorrow!
From: Linda Curtis

Dear Friends & Members:

        I know you cherish ordinary citizens being able to get signatures to  
call for a public vote on controversial issues in your city, no  
matter where you live in Texas. Therefore, please call Senator Royce  
West's office in Austin and ask him to oppose Senate Bill 690!  
(Details below)

        Call this number right away:  512-463-2527.

Note:  It does not matter whether you live in his district, as  
Senator West is the chair of the Intergovernmental Relations  
Committee in the Texas Senate.  His committee will be hearing Senate  
Bill 690 on Wednesday morning at 9:30 a.m. (Underground Extension,  
Rm. E 1.028.)

        Call his office now, please!  Come on Wednesday too if at all possible.

Linda Curtis
Independent Texans
http://IndyTexans.org
ljcurtis@IndyTexans.org
PO Box 14294
Austin, TX 78761
512-535-0989 home office
512-383-8484 Austin office
512-657-2089 cell

Oppose SB 690

This bill would stifle public participation when the public is more  
excited than ever about engaging in the political process.

SB 690 would increase the number of signatures citizens would be  
required to gather to place a charter amendment on the local ballot  
in home rule cities – from 5% to 10%.

Problem:  This bill is anti-democratic. More people than ever before  
are actively engaging in our democratic process in Texas at the  
local, state and national level.  This bill would reverse that trend  
and ensure that the hurdle is too high for citizens to be able to  
place an item on the local ballot in home rule cities.

·      The current 5% requirement is not too low.  Many groups fail  
to collect enough signatures because private property owners refuse  
to allow petition gatherers on their property and public property  
managers relegate signature gatherers to parts of the property where  
there is no pedestrian traffic.

·      The current system does not result in costly special elections  
because, if successful, the new ballot item is placed on the ballot  
in the next regularly scheduled election.

·      Popular local ballot initiatives in Texas have included local  
anti-smoking laws and campaign finance limits.  Even when citizen-led  
initiatives fail at the ballot box, they benefit the public by  
highlighting important issues and often result in new local policies.

The City of Austin’s manual for petition review states that the 10%  
requirement that exists today for some initiatives is virtually  
impossible to meet: "… it would be difficult for citizens to get  
enough signatures prior to the effective date of an ordinance to  
qualify for a referendum.  Therefore, it is unlikely [the office of  
the city clerk] will ever receive a referendum petition.”

It shouldn’t be more difficult to get on a local ballot than a  
statewide or federal ballot in Texas:

·      It only takes 500 signatures for a person in Texas to get on  
the ballot to run for Congress.

·      It only takes 1% of the presidential voters in Texas to get  
statewide ballot access for an independent candidate (about 60,000  
signatures).

·      It only takes 1% of the gubernatorial voters in Texas for a  
new political party to get ballot access (about 45,000 signatures).

Please protect Texans’ right to participate in the democratic  
process.  Vote “NO” on SB 690.

For more information contact: Linda Curtis, 512-535-0989

Last updated:  March 10, 2009