Posted on 02/22/2005 4:56:48 AM PST by Jason1
http://www.dailybulletin.com/Stories/0,1413,203~21481~2725090,00.html
Inland Valley Daily Bulletin
Article Published: Monday, February 21, 2005 - 8:46:07 PM PST
'Save Our License' Sinks
Measure fails to qualify for ballot
By SARA A. CARTER STAFF WRITER
Monday, February 21, 2005 - Californians probably won't be voting on whether to bar undocumented immigrants from getting driver's licenses.
A group trying to qualify such an initiative for the November 2006 ballot gave up a few days before today's deadline.
Save Our License's initiative would have amended the state constitution to bar undocumented immigrants from ever obtaining driver's licenses and other taxpayer benefits. It was 150,000 signatures short of the state requirement of nearly 600,000, supporters said Friday.
The group is also under investigation by the state for not disclosing campaign fund-raising efforts.
"We have been asked by our attorneys not to speak to the press," said John Fugatt, treasurer of Save Our License.
In October 2003, Mike Spence and former Sen. Richard Mountjoy formed Save Our License to repeal a state law granting driver's licenses to undocumented immigrants. The law was repealed by the Legislature at the urging of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who vetoed a second bill to grant undocumented immigrants driver's licenses in September.
Spence, a proponent of the group and president of the California Republican Assembly, did not return phone calls for comment Monday.
In pulling the plug on Friday, Spence said the group did not have enough time to gather the needed signatures.
Supporters criticized the committee, saying it did not wage a serious campaign to qualify the measure for the ballot.
Ron Prince, author of Prop. 187, the original measure to ban benefits for undocumented immigrants, said the group refused his help in providing volunteers and also ignored his advice about how the measure was written.
"After Mike Spence filed his initiative, I received a copy of it and saw what I thought were serious errors," Prince said. "I contacted him and offered my help to make corrections while it could still be amended, but the offer was rebuffed."
Last week, Spence said he had not raised enough money to pay people to gather signatures for the campaign.
But in mid-January, the group paid nearly $190,000 to Bader and Associates, a professional signature-gathering firm in Newport Beach.
"I collected the signatures they paid me for, but there wasn't much time left before the Feb. 22 deadline," Tom Bader said.
Andy Ramirez, a former initiative proponent and chairman of Friends of the Border Patrol, said that Spence should have known to file his campaign reports.
"Mike Spence is a fiscal watchdog," Ramirez said. "And any person with Spence's experience knows how to read the FPPC campaign manuals. So who is he kidding? It's the proponent's responsibility to make certain the treasurer is doing their job and to replace them if they're not."
Save Our License came under the scrutiny of the California Secretary of State's Political Reform Division and the Fair Political Practices Commission after it failed to file campaign finance documents. The group reportedly raised more than $400,000 since its inception but had never filed a campaign finance disclosure form.
The committee might be subject to $10,000 in fines and could face a commission investigation. The state has asked the group to refile original campaign documents, noting that founders' signatures were missing from the documents.
Spence acknowledged that the group did not turn in its campaign statements because of a 17-month oversight by Fugatt. They will be submitted by the end of next week, Fugatt said.
Because Save Our License opposes a specific measure, its original filing as a general purpose committee is not valid, said Harvey Tsuboi, a senior analyst with the Political Reform Division.
This just blows! What the hell, there are millions of Republicans in this state, and Orange County is a red stronghold, how could they not get 600k signatures? (rhetorical ?)
Cheers!
Californica can just sink into the ocean for all I care. Last night on O'Reilly they reported the LIBERALS there have voted to give the cons in jail better medical care than their taxpayers. Plastic surgery too. What a waste of beautiful real estate. They are the epitome of what LIBERALS can do to you.
We have cons cleaning the gutters here.
I don't know why anyone should be surprised.
We received no support from RINOld, who flat out said he could care less and little support from the CA GOP and minimal support from CA FReepers. While illegals roam about the state unabated costing those of us who actually pay taxes BILLIONS OF DOLLARS every year, not to mention the crime and quality of life in CA!
But heck as long as FReepers can go to their local Walmart and buy cheap produce who cares!!!
Semper Fi,
Kelly
I care because I live here. It doesn't mean we don't or aren't trying. Like Kellynla said, we didn't get the support needed by the big guns, the RINO's.
This state is on the cusp of being able to turn this "blue state" label around if the pols keep up with their stupidity. The people of this state just need to want to take it back.
As for the medical care convicts receive, you could probably say that for every state in the union thanks to liberal nuts.
Cheers!
I'm with you on this, alot of us are awake, what else do you propose we do besides voting, writing and protesting via phone and letters?
I agree that this BS HAS to stop, but with the SOCIALIST FREAKOS in Sacramento backed up by our RINO spineless wannabes, what choices do we have?
I feel there needs to be some sort of grassroots effort started, need to get all moderates, repubs, conservatives, and anyone else who believes that fiscal responsibility needs to start at the top.
This state is turning (has turned?) into the laughingstock disgraceful example of what will happen to the rest of the nation if people don't pay heed.
Cheers!
When I said "we", I was speaking of the active voters, not registered numbers. You are correct, there aren't nearly enough engaged, and that is what I was talking about doing. Getting those folks engaged, getting them to care enough to quit sitting on their collective arses and do something.
Cheers!
Reaction to the nihilistic morons from KFI, John and Ken, trying to be the leaders in immigration reform who, in reality, have hurt the cause. In exactly the same way that Hollywierd helped elect Bush, those morons helped defeat this issue through their wacky intervention.
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