Petition Drive

Regarding the petition drive to suspend the law granting in-state tuition to illegal immigrants: At least the immigrants are trying to better themselves by getting an education that will lead to jobs so they can become self-supporting members of society. The reason people are signing the petition has nothing at all to do with money. It's about bigotry. It's not as if the immigrants will be getting free tuition, after all. They will pay in-state fees. This is just another example of how this country clings to any opportunity to discriminate against a group of people, in this case against Hispanics.

In the quaint town of New Windsor, officials have sold the municipal ball fields to a cement company, purchased a dilapidated inn with taxpayer money for development that hasn't happened and stuck residents with the bill for a nearly $5 million wastewater treatment plant. While the town council is up for election next year, angry residents aren't waiting to express their displeasure. They're pushing a measure to allow the recall of local officials. Petitioners say they aren't targeting the entire council or any one official: They want their petition campaign to send a message to all. "We are not Occupy New Windsor," said Rebecca Merson, who moved to Atlee Ridge, one of the town's new developments, in 2004.

A direct-mail appeal to 20,000 mostly Republican voters this weekend is Howard County Republicans' last chance to pull what has been a losing charter referendum petition drive out of a death spiral as time runs out. With two weeks until the Aug. 9 deadline for collecting 10,000 valid signatures to place a charter amendment on the Nov. 2 ballot, petition drive chairman Ken Aldrich said he has fewer than 3,000 signatures. He needs about 15,000 overall to end up with enough valid signatures for the Taxpayer Protection Initiative.

Maryland's second-highest court has thrown out an attempt by residents to revive a failed petition drive challenging Howard County's plan for redevelopment of downtown Columbia. The Court of Special Appeals turned down Thursday a challenge by Russell Swatek, who with a group called Taxpayers Against Giveaways organized a petition against a zoning amendment approved by the County Council in 2010. The group had sought to bring the measure before voters as a referendum. The county's Board of Elections turned down the petition, saying the group didn't collect enough valid signatures.

A petition drive aimed at putting the housing portion of the downtown Columbia rezoning on the November ballot appears to be 362 names short of the required 2,501 valid registered voters. The Howard County Election Board tally is preliminary, however, and the signatures will be re-examined during a second count, election officials said. A total of 5,000 valid signatures are required, with half required after 60 days. The board's initially tally showed 2,139 valid signatures, with 1,352 invalid, a nearly 39 percent rejection rate.

Anne Arundel County elections officials have certified a petition drive to try to halt a proposed slot machine site at a popular shopping mall in a referendum. The Anne Arundel County Board of Elections certified Thursday that 22,967 signatures gathered by foes of a casino at Arundel Mills mall are valid. Opponents of the site needed 18,790 signatures to put the proposal on the ballot in November. Baltimore-based Cordish Cos. has sued the board, contending that it overlooked fraud in the petition drive.

A direct-mail appeal to 20,000 mostly Republican voters this weekend is Howard County Republicans' last chance to pull what has been a losing charter referendum petition drive out of a death spiral as time runs out. With two weeks until the Aug. 9 deadline for collecting 10,000 valid signatures to place a charter amendment on the Nov. 2 ballot, petition drive chairman Ken Aldrich said he has fewer than 3,000 signatures. He needs about 15,000 overall to end up with enough valid signatures for the Taxpayer Protection Initiative.

A Republican-sponsored petition drive intended to require a super-majority of county council votes to increase taxes has failed to collect enough signatures to place the issue before voters in November. Ken Aldrich, who organized the drive for the local GOP, said his team collected about 5,000 of the 10,000 signatures required to put the measure on the ballot. Monday is the deadline for submitting the names. "We lose. We're not going to pursue it any more" this year, Aldrich said.

A ruling by the state's highest court that a Montgomery County referendum should be on next month's ballot despite questions over disqualified petition signatures is giving new hope to the leaders of two failed petition drives in Howard County — one challenging new zoning for downtown Columbia and another fighting an expanded grocery store at Turf Valley. The court ruled Sept. 29 that a challenge to Montgomery County fees for emergency ambulance service should appear on the ballot in November.

The debate over a state law that would provide college tuition discounts to some illegal immigrants shifted to an Annapolis courtroom Friday. Attorneys for the law's supporters told an Anne Arundel County Circuit Court judge that the Maryland Constitution bars a November referendum challenge. The law is about funding state government programs, and appropriations measures are not subject to referendum, they said. But those backing a petition drive calling for a referendum said the measure does not deal with funding.

A state appeals court has refused to revive a petition that would allow Howard County voters to weigh in on the zoning approval for a supermarket at a proposed shopping center in Turf Valley. The county's elections officials correctly decided that opponents of the supermarket failed to garner enough valid petition signatures needed to place the store's zoning approval on the ballot, a state appeals court ruled last week. The challenge to the 2008 zoning change was brought by the Howard County Citizens for Open Government.

Residents of neighborhoods along Liberty Road in Baltimore County are hoping to gather enough signatures to challenge the County Council's decision to redraw political lines for the next local election. Leaders of the Liberty Road Community Council and neighborhood associations in the area met at the Randallstown Community Center on Wednesday afternoon to announce a petition drive to bring the issue to a countywide referendum. "We're upset with the redistricting plan because it splits communities," said Christine Cypress, president of the Liberty Road group.

The Washington group Judicial Watch filed papers Thursday to intervene in the lawsuit over legislation to extend in-state tuition discounts to illegal immigrants. The conservative group, which bills itself as a watchdog on immigration, can bring money and national attention to the battle in Maryland, where the controversial measure was suspended after opponents successfully petitioned for a statewide referendum. "There is no question that the Maryland DREAM Act should be put to a referendum," Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton said in a statement.

OurTime, a nonprofit that advocates for the under-30, has launched a campaign to encourage consumers to buy products from young entrepreneurs who are creating jobs for young workers. Check out qualifying companies online. For readers who also want to support the under 30 crowd in the Maryland area, here are some companies to check out: Smathers & Branson in D.C.; CustomInk in Northern Virginia (although the founder is in his early 30s); Crooked Monkey t-shirts in Bethesda.

The immigrant advocacy group Casa de Maryland asked a court Monday to toss out the referendum aimed at overturning the new law that extends in-state tuition breaks at Maryland's public colleges and universities to illegal immigrants. The widely expected filing is now the highest remaining hurdle confronting opponents of the breaks, who capitalized on popular support and previously untested technology to gather nearly twice the number of signatures they needed to get the passion-stirring law on the 2012 ballot.

Regarding the petition drive to suspend the law granting in-state tuition to illegal immigrants: At least the immigrants are trying to better themselves by getting an education that will lead to jobs so they can become self-supporting members of society. The reason people are signing the petition has nothing at all to do with money. It's about bigotry. It's not as if the immigrants will be getting free tuition, after all. They will pay in-state fees. This is just another example of how this country clings to any opportunity to discriminate against a group of people, in this case against Hispanics.

Opponents of in-state tuition breaks for illegal immigrants have submitted more than enough valid signatures to suspend the controversial new law until voters have their say next year, state elections officials said Thursday. In the first day of reporting since petition organizers turned in the final batch of signatures last month, the Maryland Board of Elections announced that it had validated more than 63,000 names — far more than the roughly 55,736 needed to trigger a referendum in 2012.