PRINTCashing in on signatures
Working the streets to gain support for change
Alex Lewis
Scott Cristal (left) talks with petitioner Zac Chickering after signing Chickering's petition in front of Columbia Public Library on April 24. Unlike many locals, Cristal chose to take the time to stop and find out more about the initiative in order to sign.
May 1, 2008 | 12:00 a.m. CST
The streets are packed. Clipboards piled high. Pens ready. Curses prepared. The days of friendly activism might be gone. Or perhaps there are just too many people battling for signatures on Columbia’s sidewalks.
Every election season, petitioners come out in herds to make their causes known. Willy Maxwell can attest to it. The local man, reminiscent of the ’60s in both dress and mindset, has been canvassing for 30 years.
The petition
Civil rights initiative: constitutional amendment to add Article 1, Section 34, relating to banning affirmative action programs, 2008-09.
The pitch
Attempts to improve civil rights for Missourians.
The facts
Will ban government affirmative action programs. Does not apply to any private use of affirmative action.
The petition
Casino: amendment to various chapters of the Revised Statutes of Missouri relating to casinos and gambling, 2008-035.
The pitch
Get rid of loss limits for casinos and earmark money for schools.
The facts
Repeals loss limits, restricts the number of casinos that can be built, increases the gambling tax and funnels that money into an education fund.
The petition
Home care: statutory amendment to the Revised Statutes of Missouri relating to home care, 2008-025.
The pitch
Requires more nurses to provide home health care.
The facts
Provides home care through Medicaid for elderly and disabled Missourians. The annual estimated cost is more than $500,000.
The petition
Renewable energy: amendment to Chapter 393 of the Revised Statutes of Missouri, relating to renewable energy.
The pitch
Requires more renewable energy in Missouri.
The facts
Requires investor-owned electric companies to make 15 percent of the resources they use renewable by 2021. The rate increase for consumers will be no more than 1 percent.
The petition
Eminent domain: (two parts) constitutional amendment to Article 1 – Eminent Domain, 2008-001 & constitutional amendment to Article VI – Eminent Domain, 2008-002.
The pitch
Prevents giving one person’s property to another person or corporation.
The facts
Allows the government to use eminent domain to acquire property if they compensate the landowners and use the property for the public.
--Cristina Daglas
He stands shoeless with stacks of petitions by his side. It’s his full-time job, and he’s passionate about it. But this basic democratic freedom is being tainted through badgering, misrepresentation and one major capitalistic force — money.
Hired by independent contractors, petitioners are trained before hitting the streets but generally have autonomy while working. Classified ads on craigslist and in local newspapers state no experience is necessary to get hired. With payment-per-signature setups, work is cheap, city streets are quickly crowded and bad business practices could be inevitable.
The situation is simple. The petitioner needs to get the attention of passersby. Legally, the petitioner cannot impede travel, so a short phrase is dispatched to catch attention. But with this, few stop, and even fewer know what they’re signing. They get their information regarding the petitions from whom they assume are educated activists.
But when a petition to end affirmative action is championed as the “civil rights initiative,” there’s a problem. Political affiliations aside, trickery shouldn’t be part of the petitioning equation. The easiest way to avoid problems is to read the fine print.
“There are petitioners who mislead you,” Maxwell says, and adds that he only takes on initiatives he can stand behind. Currently, he’s working on five, and, yes, he carries them all at once.
Maxwell works on Ninth Street, in Speakers Circle and also by the Columbia Public Library. Finding spots to canvass can be difficult, though. There are only so many places to go where walking traffic is heavy and no restrictions are in place. Recently, a complaint from a library patron almost got Maxwell arrested.
The library’s associate director, Elinor Barrett, says the library designates four places the petitioners can stand to solicit signatures. But even the physical segregation between petitioners and patrons hasn’t eliminated the problem. Complaints of harassment, name-calling and simple saturation remain.
“This year there are so many initiatives,” Barrett says. “We’ve received complaints about the petitioners’ behavior toward patrons.”
But Barrett is pleased the library can provide space for the petitioning to take place. If only it were more peaceful and most petitioners weren’t paid by the signature.
Even with the library’s policies, problems arise, including a recent physical altercation in Speakers Circle, during which pages of signatures were stolen and two petitioners were physically assaulted.
MU News Bureau Associate Director Christian Basi says that’s the only major incident he’s aware of, but Columbia Police Department Captain Zim Schwartze says she’s heard several complaints. As long as the petitioners don’t get too aggressive, however, there’s little the police can do.
“I understand people are bothered by it, but they do have the freedom of speech and the right to stand there,” Schwartze says. “We get complaints from people, but a lot of time our hands are tied.”
Proposed legislation in Missouri could help. If signed into law, HB 1763 would banish payment-per-signature practices. The measure would also prohibit petitioners from working on more than one initiative at a time — but it’s not necessarily a quick fix.
“It’s a very valuable resource,” Maxwell says, adding that informing the public by asking for petition signatures is a democratic and transparent process. “We’re less corrupt than the legislature.”
But those who are sub par are ruining it for the rest. Many Columbians have had enough. Clear the sidewalks.
I think you hit the nail on the head in the last sentence. I believe there are currently 18 petitions circulating, but I can only think of a handful: there is a petition out to help low income families with health care after cuts were made in 2005 by Blunt, one concerning quality health care for the elderly, one that is billed as an education-related petition but has to do with casinos, the renewable energy petition, and of course the ever misleading MOCRI. It's also important to note that not all petitioners are paid and generally those ones who are paid are the ones who harass citizens. I'm also willing to bet that it is those same paid petitioners who are misleading when it comes to their petition as has been the case with the Civil Rights Initiative.
Posted by monique quayle on May 1, 2008 at 11:35 a.m. (Report Comment)
This is a pretty one-sided article. Typical Mizzou Journalism.
Posted by Tanner Tucker on May 4, 2008 at 11:30 p.m. (Report Comment)