The joy of petitioning

pe·ti·tion (noun) - a written request signed by many people demanding a particular action from an authority or government; (verb) to give or address a petition to somebody, especially somebody in authority or a representative of an organization; to urge for or against a course of action by presenting a petition.”

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

-- Article 1 – U.S. Constitution

In a democracy, the right to petition is not an evil thing; it is simply the avenue of access to get the people involved in deciding issues of importance. Contrary to some improper thinking, a petition is not a position paper nor is it a document one signs in blood and sells their soul to believe.
It is a mere vehicle by which citizens, who think they are left out of the democratic process and wish for their voices to be heard by particular governing bodies, can have their day at the ballot boxes. It is as American as apple pie, baseball and the Constitution. Yet it is as misunderstood as anything that exists today (except for Michael Jackson, of course).
In Collin County, we had three prime examples of petitions to seek voter approval on two important issues. In Frisco, Take Back Your Rights PAC, a group backed by Dr. David Becka, gathered enough signatures to attempt amending the Frisco city charter over the construction of new homes.
In Plano, the question was on $19 million in bond money originally approved by local voters to build a local arts center. In 2001, when additional money for a west Plano site was rejected, the city council looked elsewhere for its funding and its location. Eventually, a four-city consortium was established and voters in three of those cities were given the opportunity to vote “yes” or “no” on that project … willingly by those respective councils.
Not so by the Plano “leaders.” Only after being forced to do so, through the Constitutional right of petition, did that happen on May 7. And prior to that vote, certain elected officials, led by Mayor Pat Evans, veered well out of the traffic lane to demonize the petitioners as somehow being bad citizens and hating the arts on a local and countywide basis.
Major Evans didn’t get it. It was NEVER about support for the arts. It was a question about access to decision-making, which often can be done only through petition. I’d venture to guess that most petitions arise because people either want to right a perceived wrong and were never given the proper respect or time-of-day from their elected officials. When it appears to be a positive for a community (such as the third example – petitioning to change alcohol sales regulations in Plano), those leaders are ALL for it. When it goes against their pronouncements, they rage against the machine.
In Frisco, both ballot measures failed and in Plano, the arts hall support and changing alcohol sales were approved overwhelmingly. In all cases, PEOPLE got the right to vote on the question; which is all anyone can ask.
Some folks have a funny way of looking at democracy. It’s fine and dandy when winds blow your way, but when the acquisition and retention of power, on ANY level, seems to be in jeopardy, then things get downright nasty. These people then seek to snuff out dissent and contrarian thinking with such buzzwords as “Love it or leave it.”
I’ll say this: Recall petitions (and tax rollbacks) are different and should be held to a much higher registration standard. Every two years, votes can replace elected officials; but not the chance to be heard en masse about issues. Tax rollbacks are SO destructive to a community (i.e., Bedford), it is an action that should be of last resort.
Cities do not exist for the pleasure (or plundering) of certain individuals, interest groups, business people or organizations. They exist for the people – ordinary, everyday, hard-working, taxpaying, grocery-shopping, child-rearing, lawn-mowing, microwaving, dog-walking, child-hugging, newspaper-reading, free-thinking men and women of all races, genders, religious persuasions and personal orientation. Council people and school trustees aren’t royalty and citizens do not abdicate their rights every year in May.
If they want to petition their government to have more of a say in what’s happening in their lives, to exercise the public’s best check and balance on the system, no elected official should EVER stand in their way.
Chuck Bloom can be reached at chuckbloom@hotmail.com.