City attorney’s office launches undercover checks
As part of an undercover investigation, the Santa Monica City Attorney’s Office slapped a signature gatherer with a criminal charge Wednesday for not disclosing the proper information regarding an upcoming ballot initiative.
The Santa Monica City Council passed a law in July 2001 that requires people who gather signatures for initiative petitions must give information sheets to each person who signs the petition.
The information sheet, written by the city clerk and city attorney, includes a summary of the initiative, whether or not the signature gatherer is being paid for signatures and notes that it’s a crime for gatherers to misrepresent the proposed measure. It was designed to prevent confusion among citizens on what they are signing.
The law also requires signature gatherers to make extra copies of the information sheet “readily available” to prospective signers.
The city attorney’s office recently learned that some signature gatherers in Santa Monica were not making copies of the information sheet available to prospective signers, said Deputy City Attorney Adam Radinsky.
The city’s consumer protection division late last month contacted the Homeowners for Voluntary Preservation Committee, the organization that is currently seeking a special election on a landmark status designation issue, and informed them of the requirements. The proposed landmark status measure is the only initiative for which signatures currently are being collected in Santa Monica.
This week, the city attorney’s office began undercover checks to verify compliance with the law. The investigation revealed that most signature gatherers are complying with the law, Radinsky said.
However, one signature gatherer was busted and charged with a criminal misdemeanor. The maximum penalty is six months in jail and a $500 fine, Radinsky said. He declined to say where the signature gatherer was cited because it’s an ongoing investigation.
The signature gatherers, who usually station themselves outside of supermarkets, receive $1.50 indirectly from the Homeowners for Voluntary Preservation, a committee made up of homeowners who are fighting to protect their property rights from Santa Monica city government.
The committee so far has paid a firm $20,000, which then contracts with people to hit the pavement and collect the required amount of signatures for a ballot initiative, according to Tom Larmore, a committee member. It’s a fairly common practice in Santa Monica, where most of the signature gatherers are paid based on how many registered voters they get to sign a petition.
The committee is trying to put the Homeowners Freedom of Choice Initiative in front of voters. If it passes, it would allow homeowners of historic homes a choice as to whether their homes should be classified as landmarks or structures of merit.
The group needs 9,300 signatures before Oct. 1 to place the initiative on a special election ballot. Santa Monica City Clerk Maria Stewart said the group needs 15 percent of registered voters to sign the petition to force a special election and 10 percent will get the initiative on the November, 2004 ballot.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on September 13, 2002. Read the original PDF.