The Herald-Zeitung
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Some regret signing petition
By Chris Cobb
The Herald-Zeitung
Published November 05, 2009
Residents continue to pencil their signatures on a petition to force a bond election for the proposed downtown county justice center. But Comal County officials are now asking residents who’ve changed their minds to think about pulling out an eraser.
Citing complaints from residents who said they weren’t given all the facts by petition circulators, Comal County Judge Danny Scheel is asking anyone who feels they’ve made a mistake in signing to send affidavits to the county to have their names stricken from the petition.
“The last couple of days, people have approached myself and commissioners asking how to get their names off of there,” said Comal County Judge Danny Scheel. “If you feel you were mistaken or not given all the facts, I would encourage you to take your name off the petition.”
County Commissioners voted in mid-October to forgo a bond election and begin the process of issuing debt to pay for construction of a $36 million justice center to be built on Seguin Avenue between Bridge and Zink streets.
Petitioners who would like to see a bond election have been gathering signatures, hoping to collect the more than 3,300 necessary to put it on a May 2010 ballot. The signatures must be gathered and verified by the county voter registrar by Nov. 17.
Scheel said residents have complained they’re being misled by petition circulators, or not given sufficient information to make an informed decision.
“One woman was told that if she signed the petition, her taxes would go down,” Scheel said.
The county will hold at least three more town hall meetings to provide more information about the justice center, including one tonight in Garden Ridge, followed by town halls in Canyon Lake on Nov. 10 and in New Braunfels on Nov. 12.
Glen Peterson, who is leading the petition drive, called the effort to have signatures removed a “desperate” act by the county.
“This is county officials attempt to thwart an effort to uphold the voters’ right to vote on this project,” he said.
Peterson said people are provided with factual information before signing. Petitioners simply tell residents the estimated project costs and that the county does not wish to give voters a chance to weigh in on the issue, he said.
“We tell them that ‘we don’t care what your position is, but that signing this petition would establish your right to vote on the issue,’” he said.
While Peterson said he’s giving residents facts, he also said he’s not responsible for what the more two dozen other petition circulators might be telling them.
“I can’t control what they say, but we certainly try to make sure our circulators are informed,” he said.
Scheel and other critics have said the information
given out is highly political, with Peterson making the justice center a campaign issue for his run for county judge in 2010.
The petition might be signed at Curves for Women on Castell Avenue, and a placard next to the petition Wednesday stated in bold lettering that “a vote for Glen Peterson is a vote against the judicial center and higher property taxes.”
It also calls the proposed justice center “unnecessary,” and states that its cost is “staggering.”
Peterson said the quotes on the placard being presented to residents are “opinions,” not facts.
Until this past week, the petition was being circulated at Gourmage, a downtown culinary boutique, before owner Will Atkinson decided the information being disseminated was too politicized.
“We would just like to remain apolitical, and it was clear that they had a political agenda,” said Atkinson. “If it was just ‘here’s a petition for our right to vote on it,’ it would still be here.”
If residents feel they were not properly informed before signing the petition, Scheel asked they contact the County Clerk’s office to have their signatures officially removed from the petition. Anyone who wishes to rescind their signature must do so in writing by Nov. 17.
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