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<br />Ehlction
<br />losers
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<br />"it's not me" includes Brandon, 1\,\'0
<br />and a couple of tra\'eling sub. and
<br />sub-sub-contractors. In an attempt to
<br />. 'get the money they're due, Hendrix '. ..
<br />has formed a ragtag collective ',,' '::.
<br />clubbed the,lnitiative Circulators
<br />Union: in hopes of gaining some
<br />clout. Over the past few months,
<br />mcmbers of the group hace logged
<br />numerous calls to NVO, Stockman's
<br />W,Jer ancl Brandon, hoping to pres. I
<br />SLife someone to pay.
<br />Depending on the issues and who
<br />is filllding the baUot initiatices, collec.
<br />tors are paid anywhere from fifly
<br />cents to s",'eral dollars per >,utograph,
<br />Ross Perot's Reform Party, Hendrix
<br />says, paid $4 a pop in it~ petition drive
<br />,of 1992, The pay rate for the Stock-
<br />man's bills was $1.75 per signature,
<br />OJ ast summer, Thomas Hendrix canvassed" These sums can add up for a skilled
<br />the sidewalks of Denver, hustling up signa. coUector. .
<br />tures for the petition drive that got ''There are some ofns that make a lot
<br />Amendments 15 and 16 on the baUot in 'of money at this:' says Dave Rubin, who
<br />November's election. The amendments, pushed claims he once averaged $1,000 a day,...,
<br />by Gary Boyce's Stockman's Water Company, working crowds at a festival in 'Chicago,' .'
<br />would ha,'e required flow meters on pumps and His take in Colorado was around $300 a
<br />, paYlllent~ for water that famlers had previously day, .
<br />used for free in the San LuisVaUey, While "I had work almost all year last year:
<br />Hendrix successfully roped in'a few hundred sig. Hendrix says, "and there are more and more "
<br />natures, today he's waiting for one more-on a people that do this, as special interest groups'
<br />. paycheck for his efforts. Hendrix is one of about need more and more signatures for getting'
<br />twe'nty professional petition carriers who worked' things on the ballots, It's not just statewide :'
<br />area streets last July and claim the)' weren't fully 'issues, it's local things, too-to recaU mayors: -
<br />paid for their wOck.'''!'ve been doing this kiad of and people from city co~nciIs, .disputes over; ,
<br />work since 1989, and it's the first time something picking' up trash' or growth issues." Volunteers, \,
<br />like this has happened," Hendrix says from his, he sal'S, "can't get enough signatures. They're i.'.
<br />, home in Lake Elsinore, California. , " not professionals:' '. .. ", ,.. "'.
<br />. Last June, Jim' Brandon, who led the, "You have to be a c,ongeniaI per-'. _' _. ," ..,'
<br />Stockman's campaign, hired National Voters' 'son, go'od with people, and you can't' .-! :-, , ',' ,.., ,..'
<br />Outreach, a companY that provides canvassers .. be'shy," Hendrix says, '"And you'have.to hive :, ," , .
<br />for petition diives nationwide, An NVQ subcon. :, the power of"persuasion. You get one person '; ,. .:'." ,<.,:
<br />tractor, John Woodn;II, 'recruited Hendrix and ". :going, and then you get, like, five people signing :,... :' ',.,: ..', ,': :,:
<br />chis fellow pro si.gnature, gatherers, \~'ho wen~ tq , at onc~, 'You create a frenzy tQ get more an~ ,\..,,; ,<,..,,< :
<br />work m Denver, Accordmg to Hendn.x,traveUng more stgnatures so you can make more money, ' ,-":':', " " ',:,:
<br />from state to state with clipboard in hand is typi. , . .But for Hendrix and his mates, following the ;} :::;> , '::':.:,:
<br />'cal o!the itinerant petitions trade. "We're kind of .. mcineyirail of back pay has been as difficult as .f"";:'::':;':,'P:',;<
<br />'Iike vagabonds," HendriX says. Four?r five c?, ~n~er'Standing the language on some 01 th~ in;. i:;<,'''~',:,:',/,<:'
<br />. wotkers shared a hotel room dunng theIr .t.,allves they pass around. "... '\:':':: .':."'; :..,." ':,
<br />Denver stint.... . . : ," "Our agreements were with Jim Brandon," ' ': ,,:-":'. ': ;",
<br />That Hendrix,md his ilk can traveUhe ~ation. say~ JohnLubitz, a spokesman for Stockman's :. ,..,.. '.:: '..,':'
<br />, working on any state's ballot initiatives might Water, "and my understanding is he paid, ! ' ..
<br />. appear unseemly, but it's not illegal in Colorado. : We're sympathetic to their situation, but vie're
<br />The state does not have a resi~ency require- outside" that loop. There's nothing we can. d.o
<br />. ment lor petition circulators; they need only be ,for them." , . ' '
<br />registered voters' for their work to be accepted "A check was written' for all those signatures:
<br />by the secretary of state's office, To meet this Brandon says. He says the probJems hinge on
<br />stipulation,'migrant circulators simply register Secretary 01 State Vikki Buckley's rejection of I
<br />to vote when they arrive in Colorado-even about thirty percent 01 the signatures gathered I
<br />though they'll be long gone by election day, by the complaining parties.. . -.
<br />Now Hendrix 'and his cD-\YOrke$rs say they're' , To be considered valid, signatures must mh eet ,\,
<br />owed somewhere between 20,000 and ,a number 01 requirements~some 01 t em
<br />$30,OOO--:and they're not h.-ing much luck col. , spelled o'ut o.n the petitions ,themselves,lfa I ,
<br />'- -,",,",)E'" b,~d. Th, U. 01 "'~. ..... ,;po< "'""''''' - """''' ."1"'''' I
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<br />
<br />l'mgrant petition carriers say they
<br />helped put issues on November's
<br />ballot-and then got stiffed"
<br />By Marty Jones
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