WHY AREN'T WE GETTING PROGRESS REPORTS - IN TERMS OF NUMBERS - FROM THE "STARK COUNTY CITIZENS RIGHT TO VOTE COMMITTEE?"

The Stark County Citizens Right to Vote Committee still has about 80 or so days to go (August 20th is the filing date), but one has to wonder how this group is doing on collecting signatures.

The SCPR had a report that petition circulator William Daugherty had been telling his neighbors that signature collection was not going well. So The Report sent Daugherty an email, to wit:

Bill:

I have a report that you have been telling some of your neighbors that the sales/use tax petition drive is not going to be successful.

Like to know whether or not the report is accurate, if so, the basis of your coming to that conclusion.

Or, if you deny the report, how is the effort coming (that is to say, approximately how many signatures have been gathered).

The only direct response to the SCPR question from Daugherty:

hi martin i don't know who you talked to but we are still working to get the people of stark to sign

Back in March, a representative of the group told Kelli Young of The Repository (Stark sales-tax hike comes on Wednesday, March 31, 2009) that the pro-repealers had collected about one-third (4600?) of the need 13,950 signatures.

Michael Mouse of Canal Fulton (who has broken his formal ties to the group) but who remains sympathetic with their goal and who says - if asked - he would help gather signatures in Canal Fulton believes the group will ultimately be successful.

However, he believes they are gathering signatures the hard way and may have to collect 20,000 to 25,000 signatures to get 13,950 valid ones.

Mouse parted from the group over process issues not because he changed his point-of-view on the need to get the repeal issue on the ballot. A key process issue was the his belief that circulators needed to get "walking lists" from the Stark County Board of Elections to ensure that a prospective signer is qualified to sign.

While the SCPR wishes the group well in terms of getting the issue on the ballot (but not on passage of the repeal, if it makes it), yours truly has doubts that the effort is put together well enough to achieve the group's goal.

A nagging question remains. Why isn't the Stark County Citizens Right to Vote Committee issuing periodic numeric progress reports?

Could it be that the news is not good news?