Signature deadline looms
By ALEXANDRA BISSONNETTE Special to the Daily Press
CITYWIDE With the deadline looming, aspiring candidates for public office are scouring the streets in search of signatures to qualify for the November ballot.
Rob Rader, an incumbent running for the Santa Monica College Board of Trustees, has developed a strategy to gather signatures.
“When people see me walking toward them with a clipboard, they run away,” he joked.
As an incumbent, Rader has the odds as well as volunteers on his side, and uses a variety of techniques to get the 100 minimum signatures needed to run for office. The deadline to file with the City Clerk’s Office is Aug. 8.
“I collect them at work, at the park, when I go out to eat, and from my neighbors,” he said. Rader, who as of Monday had racked up about 70 signatures of his own, also enlists volunteers to gather signatures on his behalf and is anticipating his numbers to be well above the minimum.
Although he is not nervous about meeting the minimum, Rader did note that he felt that getting signatures as an incumbent was harder than it was in the past largely due to time constraints.
“You can’t ignore the business just because of a campaign,” he said. “It’s harder this time because I am a busier person than I was.”
The idea that incumbents have a better chance at being elected is one that Rader attributes to a better knowledge of the governing body itself.
“Signature gathering is not the issue,” Rader said. “Once you’re an incumbent, you understand the organization at a much more detailed level. That’s the advantage, not signatures.”
Ben Allen, a first-time candidate running for the school board feels that the 100 signature minimum is absolutely within his reach.
“I’ve got a little ways to go, but you only need 100,” he said. “It’s a little extra leg-work, but I think it’s important that the people who run have some folks in town who are willing to put their name down. I understand why the city does it.”
Bley agreed that getting signatures would not be the most challenging task as a challenger to an incumbent.
“It hasn’t been that difficult,” Bley said. “Yesterday I walked for an hour-and-a-half and got 27 signatures. People were very open.”
Jerry Rubin, a local peace activist running for city council, felt that while he had received a lot of support from the community, getting the necessary recognition and credibility was more of a challenge.
“I hope that the press will cover other candidates as well,” Rubin said of the fact that incumbents are naturally more well known within the city.
For those running against an incumbent, beating the odds may prove to be an insurmountable challenge. The question is whether these challenges are keeping qualified individuals out of office.
Although Kerri Spiegl, a 30-year-old Ocean Park resident considering running for City Council, has not started gathering signatures, she does not think it will prove to be difficult. If she does decide to run, she plans to scour street corners and Farmers’ Markets to get the 100 minimum signatures.
“I thought running was my civic duty,” Spiegl said.“I want to improve Santa Monica overall. I just wasn’t initially thinking it would be so expensive to run.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on August 1, 2008. Read the original PDF.