The Lumpkin County Commission (BOC) unanimously voted to rescind county imposed requirements for collection of signatures on petitions.  Commissioner Tim Bowden moved to add reconsideration of petition requirements to the agenda of the December meeting.  Bowden made a motion to rescind the requirements.  Commissioner Clarence Stowers seconded the motion stating that he believed what they had done was legal; but his research has led him to believe that people have a right to petition government without restriction or fear of penalty.

It is great that the limitations on the right of the people to participate in their government have been rescinded.  Even more important was the participation of Lumpkin County citizens in demanding rights guaranteed by the Constitution of the United States.  First Amendment rights can be restricted by state or local governments only when the people fail to demand those rights.

Our right to speak out and participate would have been forfeited if we had allowed ourselves be intimidated by county petition restrictions.  Rights bestowed on us by the Constitution are meaningless without the courage to demand them.

The relationship of people to their government was best stated by Thomas Jefferson when he said, “When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty.”  He addressed our responsibility saying, “Eternal vigilance is the price of freedom.”

Members of the BOC now recognize your absolute right to participate in your government.  This is a great victory; but it means little if you fail to exercise your right.

People ask me, “Will it really do any good?” when I tell them to let the commissioners know what they think about issues.  Few appreciate the power of public participation.  They do not realize that they can make a difference.  They really do not understand that elected officials will respond appropriately to the will of their constituency.

If we are to have freedom and the quality of life we desire in Lumpkin County, we must motivate folks throughout the county to speak out on other issues as they have on the issue of the right to petition.

We must make certain that they receive information in a timely manner.  Many don’t have access to the internet; and many who receive The Dahlonega Nugget wait days to read it.  Reliable information from numerous sources is essential to motivate the people.  Discussion of issues among persons in lots of different groups is one of the best ways to validate or evaluate the information.

The Lumpkin County Homeowners Association (LCHA) was created to provide information that can empower homeowners and to promote discussion of issues that affect the lives of local residents.  Every resident of our county is encouraged to attend and take part in the discussion.

As you celebrate eliminating one restriction on your freedom, realize that was yesterday’s issue.  Eternal vigilance requires knowing what’s going on and being willing to stand up, speak out and be free.

It seems that the official county form for petitions adopted in July by unanimous vote of the board was merely a recommendation and not a requirement.  Quotes from Commissioners in The Dahlonega Nugget article on October 14 continue to verify that they did not agree on what they voted for.

It seems that they do now agree to accept petitions as required by the 1st Amendment of the United States Constitution.   Chairman Raber was quoted as saying,  …All we did was ask that people follow a form so petitions could be legitimized. Yet, the commissioners blindly approved a document that provides for $1,000 fines and imprisonment of up to five years.

Some Commissioners suggested that we should not even have a county form if it won’t be required.  Since all commissioners have sworn to uphold the Constitution, eliminating the petition form seems like a wise move.

Reasonable concerns about signers having some interest in the petition purpose were blown entirely out proportion.  Invalid signatures are included in every ballot access petition because there is no way for a collector to know that a signer is a registered voter in the district or that the signer has not already signed another page of the petition.  The State Elections Division resolves the issue by just not counting invalid or duplicate signatures.

The Lumpkin County Homeowners Association provided an image of 114 petition pages on a CD  for each commissioner.  They will be able to easily see who is concerned about the future of Blackburn Park.   Will an occassional “invalid” signature outweigh the value of signatures from many well known constituents?

Commissioners need to know what their constituents think about the issues.  Petitioning is a valuable tool for accessing interest in an issue and for promoting discussion.  One would expect elected officials to prefer a single petition instead of a thousand phone calls or emails.

While two Lumpkin County commissioners are under the impression that petitions not following the county’s form will not be accepted, two believe they will be, and board chair “Dr.” John Raber said it was never alleged they wouldn’t be.

“We never said we wouldn’t accept petitions. We’ve always accepted petitions. We’ve not turned down any petition ever. All we did was ask that people follow a form so petitions could be legitimized,” Raber said when asked about the board’s acceptance of the GOLD Dog Park petition at the October work session. That petition was not on a county form, but when presented, Raber asked that it be given to the county clerk to become an official part of the record.

The rest of the story:

Dahlonega, Lumpkin County: The Dahlonega Nugget. The local newspaper for Dahlonega, Georgia > News > Confusion complicates county petition ordinance

I’m not a person who’s prone to petitioning.  In fact, if I see somebody coming my way with a large sheet of paper and an enthusiastic grin, I usually walk hurriedly in the other direction.  Yet there would be one petition I’d be happy to sign my sloppy signature on. That would be a petition that petitions the county’s new petition policy.  Yes, the time has come to petition the new petitions.Sadly, such a petition would most likely not be recognized by officials since it probably wouldn’t meet the stringent guidelines recently adopted by the Lumpkin County Board of Commissioners. But then that’s the very reason to sign this petitioning petition in the first place.

Maybe I should start making more sense now.

A few months ago the Board of Commissioners adopted a new set of rules which governs the local petition process with an iron fist. It calls for an official county-provided form that must be notarized and vouched for by the submitter. Then the main petitioner must also guarantee that each signer is an actual resident of Lumpkin County. And if they aren’t, according to the new rules, they can be slapped with a $1,000 or five years in jail. In other words: The Man’s gonna get ‘em.

Doesn’t this seem kind of unnecessary though?

I mean, here’s the secret about petitions. You don’t have to do what they say. In fact, it seems like no one ever does. So do we have to rub it in?

It’s like saying “The Board of Commissioners now officially doesn’t have to recognize this piece of paper that the Board of Commissioner never had to officially recognize in the first place. But now it’s official.”

That would be bad enough, but by adding the threat of legal action, and jail time at that, this silly rule becomes something else. Something needlessly menacing.

Some of the commissioners have justified these rules by saying they will ultimately help eliminate shady petitions and bring credibility to the real ones.

But by this reasoning I could start a petition ordering the county to adopt a resolution acknowledging the existence of magical unicorns. I could then convince hundreds of my closest unicorn-loving friends to sign it, and then what?

Would my “legitimate” unicorn resolution receive more serious consideration than a more credible, non-mythical creature related petition?

Well, this October 14th we’ll find out when the Lumpkin County Homeowners Association plans to present the commissioner with a, gasp, non-official petition protesting logging in Blackburn Park. Emily Lewy, one of the lead petitioners, has even admitted that she can’t vouch for every single signature. But they’re submitting it anyway.

Yes, this has the makings of an old fashioned wild west face-off. (Except with petitions instead of six-shooters.)

So this is my advice to the county. Next Wednesday, when the petition is handed out, just accept it, look over it and at least pretend to read it.

If you agree with what it’s saying, then vote with it. If you don’t, vote against it. Then when you’re done with it, go ahead and toss it in the recycling bin. This is pretty much what you would have done anyway.

But while you’re at it, throw out your crazy petition policy too.

Lumpkin County Homeowners Association members plan to put the county’s new rules concerning petitions to the test at the next regular meeting of the board of commissioners Wednesday, Oct. 14. They voted last week to present a petition that does not conform to the new rules, opposing the harvesting of hardwood trees from the Blackburn Park property.

The board voted to approve a petition form in July. The form includes an “Affidavit of Circulator” that states, “Under the penalty of law relating to false swearing, punishable by a fine not to exceed $1,000 or by imprisonment of not less that five years, or both,” that the person circulating the petition believes that “each signer’s name and residence are correctly stated … is a citizen of Lumpkin County, and … has read, or was read” the stated purpose of the petition. The form also requires that the petition be notarized.

There are about 1,000 signatures attached to the Blackburn Park petition, said LCHA President Emily Lewy, who admits that the petition was “loosely done, and mostly done by others. I collected signatures one day at the Auraria Yard Sale.” But the petition is complete with addresses, phone numbers and e-mail addresses, she says. However, there are no affidavits and no notary stamp.

“The first amendment guarantees the unalienable right to petition the government. There’s even a quote from Supreme Court justices that the right is ‘so well established few have dared to challenge it in recent years,’” Lewy told those attending last week’s LCHA meeting. “The fact that this right has been questioned by our commissioners is outrageous. And most outrageous is the statement about fines and imprisonment. If you are collecting signatures on the county’s form, you would have to see a picture ID. We must never follow this form. If we do, and we sign it, we could be prosecuted.”

District 2 Commissioner Tim Bowden was present at the meeting. He said the intent of the petition resolution “was to make sure the signatures weren’t someone’s out of Cobb County. I don’t see anything wrong with being sure they are Lumpkin County voters who have an interest in issues in Lumpkin County.”

The state of Georgia also requires that a petition to get on the ballot be notarized, but there is no mention of imprisonment or fines. The only penalty is that the signatures of ineligible or unregistered voters are not counted.

“The Blackburn Park petition is different from a petition to run for public office. It’s an administrative requirement of the Secretary of State. But the kind of petition we circulated would be appropriate if we only took a roll of toilet paper and signed it,” Lewy said. “The big problem is the notary requirement for collectors. It is onerous, and would be declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court if it ever got that far.”

“It looks like, to a number of people, that the board of commissioners is trying to silence the people,” said LCHA association member John Cavender.

“And that’s the effect,” Lewy added. “A lot of people won’t want to sign a petition.”

“This was only dreamed up after you knew the petition for Blackburn Park was coming,” Cavender told Bowden.

Juvenile court judge David Turk, who was at the meeting to make a presentation on Family Drug Court, was asked for a legal opinion. He said the fine and imprisonment language comes from the ‘false swearing’ statute. “This, in my opinion, would not pass constitutional muster. Plus, it has a ‘chilling effect’-that’s the legal term for it-on those wishing to sign or circulate a petition.”

Gerald Lewy said the rule is having “just that effect. People at the Grumpy Old Men’s Club don’t want to sign anything. Perception is reality.”

Bowden pointed out that the requirement is on the collector, not the signer. Even so, Lewy said, the county’s form goes too far with its threat of fines and jail time.

“Even on a petition for the ballot there are no legal sanctions,” she said. “There’s no requirement for you [the commissioners] to even read a petition. You can say ‘thank you, ma’am, and dump it in the garbage. But the people have a right to petition the government. The real power of a petition is that it informs the people about an issue. You can’t just walk up to a stranger and start talking. But with that petition in your hand you can walk up to someone and ask for their signature and talk to them about an issue.” When Lewy went to Auraria to collect signatures, she said, she was “amazed at the number of people who had an interest in Blackburn Park, and knew nothing about the county’s plans to clear cut.”

Bowden told the audience that there are no plans at present to do any logging at the location. He also suggested that because the Blackburn Park petition was started before the resolution, it could be “grandfathered in.”

While LCHA’s members were pleased to hear there will be no logging, Lewy said the “issue now is whether they will accept the petition or not. I’m upset that Tim Bowden would suggest the petition could be grandfathered in. Getting this petition accepted is not the point. The point is, the people have the absolute right to petition.”

During the July meeting of the BOC, commissioners voted to require their own exclusive design for any petition submitted to them.  It would require a notarized affidavit from the collector on the back of each page verifying the identity and address of each signer.   As I see it,  picture ID would be required to protect collectors from liabilty for false swearing on the affidavit.  Then Chairman Raber stated in his The Dahlonega Nugget column on September 2 that the action had been taken to protect those who sign from fines and incarceration.

Petition restrictions and threats can only be interpreted as an attempt to make citizens afraid to sign petitions and collectors afraid to collect.  The right to petition has been recognized by courts and historians as the cornerstone of the First Amendment. The original draft of the First Amendment contained only assembly and petition, not speech, press or religion.  Petition is the right to ask government at any level to right a wrong or correct a problem.

“Petitioning” has come to signify any nonviolent, legal means of encouraging or disapproving government action, whether directed to the judicial, executive or legislative branch. Lobbying, letter-writing, e-mail campaigns, testifying before tribunals, filing lawsuits, supporting referenda, collecting signatures for ballot initiatives, peaceful protests and picketing: all public articulation of issues, complaints and interests designed to spur government action qualifies under the petition clause, even if the activities partake of other First Amendment freedoms.

As for restrictions on the right to petition, Justice Louis Brandeis wrote in 1927 (Whitney v. California), “Although the rights of free speech and assembly are fundamental, they are not in their nature absolute. Their exercise is subject to restriction, if the particular restriction proposed is required in order to protect the State from destruction or from serious injury, political, economic or moral.” These limits must be justified, as Brandeis emphasized, by a compelling public interest. “Only an emergency can justify repression,” said Brandeis. “Such must be the rule if authority is to be reconciled with freedom. Such, in my opinion, is the command of the Constitution. It is therefore always open to Americans to challenge a law abridging free speech [petition] and assembly by showing that there was no emergency justifying it.”

In United Mine Workers of America v. Illinois State Bar Association (1967), the U.S. Supreme Court exalted the right as “among the most precious liberties safeguarded by the Bill of Rights” and implicit in “the very idea of government.” The Court had earlier affirmed the right to engage in such activity; it thus deemed it a fundamental liberty, protected against encroachment by federal, state and local governments.

The petition clause ensures that our leaders hear, even if they don’t listen to, the electorate.  Though public officials may be indifferent, contrary, or silent participants in public discourse, at least the First Amendment commands their audience.

The right to petition government has been so well-established that few have dared challenge it in recent years.  Only elected officials who desire to control their constituents would try to limit this non-violent communication.

The BOC is trying to limit your First Amendment rights.  Will they try to limit your Second Amendment rights next?  Demand your rights, let the commissioners know you want BOC petition requirements rescinded.

Chairman Raber says, “The BOC, at the advice of legal counsel, took the necessary steps to protect every citizen who wants to, and has a constitutional right to, sign a petition.  The BOC made certain that those who sign a petition were doing so without exposing themselves to a fine or imprisonment.”

The only one exposing himself is John Raber.  He has clearly shown himself to be nothing more than a small time, playground bully spewing false statements in an attempt to make people afraid to sign a petition.  Fear is the weapon of a bully who does not have truth on his side.

The constitutional right to petition government cannot be limited by the Lumpkin County BOC.  If Raber continues threats of fines and jail in a effort to limit the rights of his constituents, some young lawyer is going make a name and a lot of taxpayer money challenging Lumpkin County while defending the constitutional rights of its citizens.

As an attorney, I challenge John Raber to present a single case in the United States where a person has been fined for signing a petition.  Imprisonment for signing a petition or for collecting signatures is ludicrous!

The greatest fear for a bully is to be successfully challenged.  Having the people stand up to him by daring to sign a petition, is clearly getting under Raber’s skin.

Bullies thrive by attacking the vulnerabilities of others.  Raber knows that a lot of folks in this county are afraid of speaking out.  He mentioned during the Work Session the fear and distrust of “these mountain folk.”  Such emotions are well founded when people think someone is trying to take advantage of them.

By setting up absurd and unnecessary requirements, the BOC attempts to prevent county residents from signing petitions by making them afraid.  Members of the BOC  are the ones in violation of the law; the people have nothing to fear.   Only the BOC should be afraid.

The group also expressed frustration toward the local government as well. Several attendees said they found fault with recent actions by the Lumpkin County Board of Commissioners to deny a petition protesting the logging of Blackburn Park under the suspicion that it was fraudulent.

“We worked hard and got 1,400 names in four days on that petition but yet nobody has seen it,” said one woman.

“So it’s over,” replied Hoynes. “I mean it’s just all over.”

It is easy to appreciate the frustration these folks feel in response to the commissioners’ vote on petition requirements. However, the Blackburn Park petition is being compiled by members of the Lumpkin County Homeowners Association (LCHA), not persons quoted in the newspaper.

The statement that 1,400 signatures were collected in four days is not correct.  Signature collection began on Saturday, May 30.  Based on the latest estimates, some 1000 signatures have been collected by residents genuinely concerned about the quality of life for current and future generations.

LCHA continues collecting signatures for the BLACKBURN PARK PETITION:

“We, the undersigned, oppose removal of hardwood trees from the Blackburn Park property until such time that a Master Plan has been presented to the citizens of Lumpkin County and until funds are available to implement that plan.”

Any resident of Lumpkin County may sign a page of the Blackburn Park petition at the following locations:

• Fast  Stop Chevron on Hwy 52 West
• Wholesome Earth next to the jail
• Second-Hand Sam’s THRIFT STORE across from Elementary School on Grove Street
• Fantastic Sam’s hair cuts Walmart Way
• Cover to Cover Used Books on Grant Road at Hwy 400
• Trammell Tire on Hwy 52 West
• The Crimson Moon Cafe’ on the Dahlonega Square
• Shenanigans Pub just off Dahlonega Square
• Vickie Lynn’s Gifts on the Dahlonega Square
• Two Sister Cards & Crafts on North Grove St
• The Flower Mart on S Chestatee by the college

The goal of the petition is to inform the public and promote well reasoned opposition to cutting trees at the present time.  The goal of LCHA is to provide information to local government about what the people want.

I began collecting signatures at the end of May because bids for logging the property were due the next week. Asking for signatures on a petition proved to be a great way to begin conversation about the park.

Long time residents knew nothing about the plan for logging and overwhelmingly wanted the park preserved. Newcomers who knew nothing about the park wanted more information and voiced great support for preserving it.

Blackburn Park petition collection continues to be successful. The commissioners may not want to see our petitions; but they cannot deny the power of well-informed citizens.