Poll: Is it OK for Paid Out-of-Towners to Gather Davis Water-Rate Signatures?

Do you have a problem with paid out-of-towners gathering signatures to help get the water-rate issue on the ballot? Vote in our poll below. 

The Davis Vanguard reported yesterday that at least one person accused Councilmember Stephen Souza of “yelling about surface water and acting as a ‘blocker’” between signature gatherers and citizens at the and in front of Safeway and the .

The article quickly points out, however, that “little evidence” was found to back up the most serious charges. Souza said he had polite conversations, but that the “blocking” accusations are without basis or merit. 

He says the real issue has to do with paid signature gatherers who do not live in town. He told Davis Patch:

At the two Safeways and the Coop I asked the folks who were gathering signatures questions about their activity, what were their names, where they were from, what they were saying and who was paying them and how they were paid.  I asked these questions in a respectful way, and I identified myself to them.

Souza, who voted for the project, has been part of an effort to pass out fliers that say “Think Before You Sign!” The flier insists that Davis’s water source must improve now and that we can’t kick the can down the road because our children can’t afford it.

He said in the Vanguard that the paid signature gatherers “do not know the issue nor do they have a stake in our town. They are here only to make a buck and leave.”

If enough signatures are gathered, the controversial project will end up on the ballot. Water will be piped in from a new facility in Sacramento and rates will rise. The four councilmembers who approved it say it must happen now; it can't be put off.  and vote below. 

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