I'm happy to say that the Contra Costa Times and the Monterey Valley Herald reported on the evidence we submitted to the Secretary of State's office detailing Gov. Schwarzenegger's petitioners election law violations and our call for an investigation. We are optimistic that an investigation will be called for, and if it does, there is no telling what will come out regarding what kind of men would physically intimidate and verbally abuse female teachers and completely misrepresent the content of the initiatives designed to attack their professions. The fact they were getting paid up to $5.50 per signature, compared to the usual $1 - $1.50, only adds to the travesty.
The full text of the article is below. You can be sure I'll be keeping everybody up to speed on how this story progresses being that the Governor is on the verge of calling for a "special election" based on his touting of how many signatures were gathered by these men, who used these tactics and misrepresentations to do so.
One minor correction of the article: Erica did not work for Democracy for America, and never has.
Complaint filed against signature-gatherers
http://www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cctimes/email/news/11861857.htm
http://www.montereyherald.com/mld/montereyherald/news/11862705.htm
By LISA VORDERBRUEGGEN
Contra Costa Times
WALNUT CREEK - Four women, including a schoolteacher from Concord, have asked the state to investigate allegations of illegal and abusive behavior by signature-gatherers hired to work on Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's initiatives.
Erica Rodriguez filed a complaint Thursday afternoon with the secretary of state's office that includes testimony from the women and transcripts of secretly recorded conversations between herself and several petition-gatherers.
A laundry list of allegations includes misrepresentations about the petitions' contents and impacts, and illegally allowing felons to register citizens to vote. It also details alleged intimidation tactics used to scare off detractors such as swearing, physical crowding and racial slurs.
"My goal is reform," said Rodriguez, a 31-year-old volunteer for California for Democracy, an arm of Democratic Party Chairman Howard Dean's grass-roots political network. "Californians shouldn't be subjected to harassment, intimidation and illegal activities as part of the democratic process."
Spokespeople for the governor, Citizens to Save California, the group promoting the governor's initiatives; and National Petition Management, also named in the complaint, did not return phone calls and e-mails.
Assemblyman Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, threw his support behind the investigation and said he would call for Legislative hearings into a process he described as "out of control."
The secretary of state's fraud unit will determine whether to open a case, and, if warranted, send their findings to the District Attorney's Office for possible prosecution, said spokeswoman Nghia Nguyen.
One of the governor's initiatives has qualified for the ballot, although he has not yet decided whether to call a special election for November. The measure would extend the time period for a teacher to attain permanent status and allow districts to fire teachers who receive poor evaluations.
The governor's two other petitions have been submitted to the state for signature verification. These would establish new state spending caps and strip the Legislature of its power to draw political boundaries and turn the process over to judges.
Rodriguez's complaint grew out of an emotionally charged environment as signature-gatherers squared off up and down the state.
In response to the governor's efforts, Democratic activists spread a wide net in their bid to thwart the governor and promote ballot measures of their own.
Both sides of the aisle hire signature-gatherers. In a state this large, it's nearly impossible to do the job without paid help.
But Rodriguez, in her complaint, said some workers crossed the line.
In March, she said several petition workers outside Target in Pleasant Hill threatened her when she showed up with a sign and brochures that challenged Schwarzenegger's initiatives.
Frustrated with the lack of response from local agencies, she launched her own investigation and collected testimony from three women, including two from Santa Rosa, who experienced similar encounters.
She also secretly recorded conversations with several workers outside Trader Joe's in Concord after being advised that taping was legal as long as it occurred in a public place.
In one transcript peppered with profanities, a worker admitted he was a convicted, out-of-state felon and said he misrepresented the petitions' contents because he needed the money. They are paid per signature.
A second transcript quoted a worker outside Target telling shoppers, "We have teachers showing up on the job on alcohol and drugs. That's one of the reasons we had to come out with these petitions."
State law, however, already allows districts to fire teachers for alcoholism or drug abuse. The initiative would add a provision that allows districts to remove instructors after two unsatisfactory performance reviews.