A PROMISE TO KEEP: 5%
A Ballot Committee of
Citizens for Limited Taxation & Government
PO Box 408 * Peabody, MA 01960
Phone:(617) 248-0022 /(978) 538-3900 E-Mail: cltg@cltg.org
Visit our web-page at: http://cltg.org
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*** Promise Update ***
Thursday, January 8, 1998
"Never have so many owed so much to so few."
Winston Churchill
Greetings supporters:
That quote above came to mind as I drove home last night, after spending the day in
the office and at the Ballot Law Commission hearing. A handful of us are still
working around the clock to give the taxpayers their long-awaited and promised
"temporary" income tax rollback—simply because not enough did enough to get
more than just enough signatures when it counted.
It was hectic in that office yesterday, as the four volunteers, our staff, and our attorney Steve Epstein, scrambled to get together the records he’d need for the hearing. Overwhelmed with just trying to find more good signatures that should have been certified, after the hearing we were burdened with yet *another* overwhelming project: We now must check each of the 4,000 signatures on the list the teachers provided us with that they intend to challenge.
I just don’t know where the time’s going to be found. We’re already putting in 14 to 18-hour days seven-days-a-week, and have been since September.
"Never have so many owed so much to so few."
In moments of weakness—and they’ve become more common with exhaustion—I can’t help but wonder if it’s worth this much effort and sacrifice. Especially if not enough care enough unless it’s something for nothing.
We really need more help in the Boston office. There’s no free lunch, no coat-tails to ride, no luxury of expecting "someone else" to pull the load any more. It’s time to fish or cut bait. Can you help? Will you help?
If you can, and if you will, please immediately call Chip Faulkner or Loretta Hayden
at (617) 248-0022.
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Yesterday the state Ballot Law Commission met at 3:00 PM to entertain pre-hearing
motions. The Massachusetts Teachers Association’s team of law firms was led by
"Frivolous Bill" McDermott. There were so many Objectors’ attorneys present that
we were lucky they left room for Steve at the table—and that happened, I think, only
because one of them, Haskell Kassler, of Kassler & Feuer, wasn’t able to be there
yesterday!
McDermott, of Sullivan & McDermott, Cheryl Cronin of Hoopes & Cronin, and the MTA’s "general counsel" all were present in an effort to get Steve and us to stipulate away our petition— which of course we rejected. All both parties agreed to was the Secretary of State’s final total of certified signatures.
"Frivolous Bill" asked for expedited subpoena summonses of 280 city and town clerks/registrars, ordering them to appear with their records on the first day of the hearing, this coming Monday. He announced his intention of taking a full ten days to challenge over 4,000 signatures and wanted us to stipulate away all sorts of our rights—for the sake of speeding up the process. (By law, the commission must reach a decision by January 23rd.)
He introduced his intent to bring in a handwriting expert, named her, and asked us to name ours. Steve explained that we wouldn’t be using one as, along with it being an additional expense, the commissioners were perfectly capable of determining if a signature was a forgery or not—and that if the Objectors used one, he would "drag her through the wringer" over every signature the expert attempted to challenge, thereby significantly slowing down the process.
When McDermott attempted to have the petition thrown out for insufficient signatures by introducing the teachers’ count of the signature totals (added up from the bottom of each petition) as differing from that of the Secretary of State and being less than the required 64,928, Steve charged that they were committing a fraud on the commission, as they were only counting where the mathematical errors were in their favor— not where they were in ours according to our count!
We were provided a list of the 4,000 signatures the Objectors intend to challenge—and "frivolous" hardly begins to describe the vast majority of them:
Apparently they will challenge every single pair of signatures of husbands and wives who signed on consecutive lines—just because maybe one signed for the other.
They will challenge all signatures where there is no *number* with the street address; if initials were used, or not used; if nicknames were used; if *they* can’t read a signature or address (even though the clerks could) -- some sixteen categories, most of which are utterly frivolous.
But, while they may be frivolous, they must be defended by us.
And for them to be defended, as well as for us to keep finding more good signatures that should have been certified, we need your help. We’ve found over 800 so far in 22 percent of those rejected by the clerks/registrars that we’ve examined. (Over 11,000 signatures were rejected by the city and town clerks/registrars, and we’ve got to check each one.)
The already-overwhelming job of defending our petition just doubled.
We don’t have the vast resources, either the money or manpower, that the teachers union has at its fingertips; we can’t "assess dues" on you. There simply aren’t enough hours in a day for us to put in any more time than we’re already doing. We have only you and our other volunteers, if we’re to blow off this challenge and send this teachers union packing back to hell where it came from.
Will you help?
Or will you keep paying the "temporary" tax?
Chip Ford—
PS—If you’ll help, please immediately call our office at (617) 248-0022.
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You can e-mail A Promise to Keep: 5% at --> cltg@cltg.org
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