Clerk: No challenges to 'Say Yes' petition yet

Wed, Aug 20, 2008    to del.icio.us

No one has yet challenged the petition to repeal the ban on Sunday beer and wine sales, according to Ottawa County Clerk Dan Krueger.

It's been more than a week since Say Yes to Sunday — the group behind the petition — paraded two boxes containing 42,821 signatures down Washington Avenue in downtown Grand Haven to the county clerk's office.

Krueger said if someone opposes the repeal of the 32-year-old ban, they could either challenge the signatures or campaign against it — assuming the measure makes the Nov. 4 ballot.

"It's probably more likely they would go campaign against it once it's on the ballot," he said, "because they could potentially waste some energy challenging it."

Registered Ottawa County voters have until 4 p.m. Thursday to submit specific challenges against names on the petition, Krueger said. His office is still processing the petition, and he said they will know whether it's valid by no later than Sept. 5.

"It's slow, but it's going," Krueger said.

Say Yes to Sunday spokesman Jim Storey said he is unaware of efforts to organize against repealing the only Sunday beer and wine ban in a Michigan county.

"So far, I don't think this has stirred up any vehement opposition," Storey said. "There are so many people that wanted to sign the petition — and even those that declined to do so weren't rallying against it. They just didn't feel like they should."

Storey said Say Yes to Sunday committee members are recharging their batteries this week after soliciting more than half of their petition's signatures in the last several weeks of the two-month drive.

Phase two of the campaign will be educating Ottawa County residents to vote no in November, Storey said, even though they're being asked to "say yes."

Alcohol license holders, suppliers and interested individuals will likely donate to the campaign, Storey said. A public fundraising campaign is also a possibility, he said.

The group plans to run a traditional get-out-the-vote campaign with yard signs, advertising and a possible mass mailing. Volunteers plan to once again visit festivals, but with a different approach, Storey said.

"Instead of approaching people as aggressively as we did, it will be more of a passive presence for people to ask questions," Storey said.