Letter: We support paid parking referendum petition
Open letter from the proponents to the signers of the Paso Robles paid parking referendum,
– To the 2,426 Paso Roblans who signed the referendum petition to place paid parking on the ballot, bravo and thank you for participating in the referendum process!
The referendum (below) was submitted and accepted by the city clerk on April 2, 2024. Your message is clear, in large type, on the face of every page of the referendum (below).
“Require voter approval of paid parking zones ordinance” on the November ballot.
The city has 30 business days from April 2 to verify the signatures to determine if there are a sufficient number of valid signatures (1,127).
But your city staff and their attorneys intend to reject our referendum. They have consulted another law firm to block us on technical terms for not including 11-point type, indicating that we did not have any funders, and that petitioners were not paid. They do not plan to verify or count your 2,426 signatures! However, the city council works for you, the people, not for the city staff.
On May 7, your city council has the authority and the obligation to respect the intent of the referendum and to place paid parking on the ballot for a full vote of the people. Or to repeal it entirely. Two council members are listening to you. They support the intent of the referendum to place paid parking on the ballot. We salute them!
Chris Bausch, District 2, elected four times, (805) 610-0350, cbausch@prcity.com, and Fred Strong, District 4, elected four times, (805) 227-7213, fstrong@prcity.com.
These other three council members have insisted on paid parking since October, when Mayor Martin died, and when two of them were appointed to their positions. They are not listening to the people.
Steve Gregory, District 3, (this seat is up for election) (805) 234-4850, sgregory@prcity.com, John Hamon, mayor (appointed in Aug.) (805) 391-3264, jhamon@prcity.com, and Sharon Roden, District 1, appointed Oct., (805) 703-1565, sroden@prcity.com, (this seat is up for election.)
If they refuse to place paid parking on the ballot, or to repeal it, they will demonstrate their contempt for you, the referendum, and your right to petition your government.
If they do not want you to have a vote on paid parking in November, you will have no choice but to replace them at the election. Two of their seats are open in November
We urge you to let your council members (council@prcity.com) know that you demand a ballot vote on paid parking or you will be voting for someone else for city council on that same ballot in November!
The intent of the signers of the referendum is absolutely clear:
Signed,
John Roush, Linda George, Sarah Barnes, David Nelson, Coy Barnes
Editor’s note: Opinion pieces and letters to the editor are the personal opinions of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Paso Robles Daily News or its staff. We welcome letters from local residents regarding relevant local topics. To submit one, click here.
