Today ended the signature collection period to recall Representative Paul Scott from District 51. Petitioners had a mere 13 and a half days to collect the necessary 8,000 signatures to get it on the November ballot. I am happy to report that the group known as Citizens Against Government Overreach turned in 12,353 signatures collected in this short period of time! I worked five or six days in the effort myself at roadside tables in the blistering heat. It was worth every minute of it. Tomorrow, the signatures go to Lansing to be verified.
According to the group's Facebook page:
Paul Scott was elected to his second term as Michigan state representative of the 51st district in 2010 while riding on the coattails of candidate Rick Snyder. As House Education Committee chair Scott has been a massive opponent of teachers and fails to recognize public sector workers as a part of the working class.
He only sees the public sector as a group of individuals who should adhere to his and Snyder's policies as though they and their legislative colleagues are the board of directors for the corporate Michigan that they envision;
that these individuals have no right to complain about their working conditions, pay, or benefits while handling the public goods and services our tax dollars are supposed to provide for;
that while we pay our taxes for investment in our state services, our services are instead being cut with his full endorsement in favor of investing that money in tax cuts for businesses that make money off our work.
Fri Aug 05, 2011 at 7:28 AM PT: UPDATE: Rep. Paul Scott has filed an appeal with the Genesee County Circuit Court alleging that the recall language should not have been approved because it was vague and ambiguous, the Flint Journal reports. Apparently, Paul Scott had ten days to file the appeal. The language was approved on July 21 and his appeal was filed on July 27. I just wonder why we are hearing about the appeal now, on August 5th?