With looming deadline, campaign enters final stretch to get 95,000 signatures.
With time running out and signatures still rolling in, Mayoral Candidate Carl DeMaio and his team of campaign volunteers have organized a third neighborhood walk this weekend to collect the remaining signatures needed to ensure the Pension Reform Ballot measure appears on the June 2012 ballot. DeMaio is urging reform-minded San Diegans to join in the effort to collect the more than 95,000 signatures needed to qualify the ballot measure.
“We are going door-to-door to get the remaining signatures we need to qualify the pension reform ballot measure,” declared DeMaio. “I made a commitment that I wouldn’t wait to be Mayor to get things done – and reforming unsustainable and indefensible pension payouts for city employees is my top priority,” noted DeMaio in explaining the significant investment of his personal time in collecting signatures.
DeMaio has made pension reform his top priority – and over the last several months has completely refocused his campaign’s energies on signature collection efforts. DeMaio has logged hundreds of hours in front of supermarkets, street fairs and other events – helping collect signatures to put his Comprehensive Pension Reform (CPR) Ballot Measure up for a public vote in the June 2012 election.
This Saturday’s “Signature Walk” is the third consecutive weekend volunteer blitz — the walks have brought the qualification effort thousands of additional signatures. DeMaio will also be participating in another one of his “Signature Storm” events in front of a retail store on Sunday. At a typical “Storm” DeMaio and his team usually collect more than 500 signatures – and DeMaio personally interacts with roughly 1,000 San Diegans to hear their concerns and answer their questions.
“I am thrilled that our coalition continues to grow and that more and more people are getting involved in the campaign during the final stretch,” added DeMaio. “We need everyone’s help for the final push to make sure that this critical reform makes it on the ballot next June.”
DeMaio’s efforts have not been dissuaded by local government labor unions who have continued to wage an unprecedented opposition campaign using deceptive radio ads and paid “blockers” designed to scare and intimidate voters away from signing the petition.
“We cannot allow the government labor bosses to block pension reform – that is why I am doing everything I can to ensure that San Diegans have the right to vote on reforming the pension system in this upcoming city election,” DeMaio concluded.
DeMaio is the primary author of the Pension Reform Ballot Measure and is part of a broad-based coalition of taxpayer, business, and neighborhood groups working collaboratively to qualify and pass the measure.
MEET UP WITH DEMAIO THIS WEEKEND:
Saturday, September 24, “Signature Walk”: 9201 Spectrum Center Blvd, San Diego; 8:30 to 4pm
Sunday, September 25, “Signature Storm”: Ralph’s at 3455 Del Mar Heights Road from 11am to 2pm