Clarkston residents should be interested in the facts about how the signatures for the medical marijuana initiative were gathered.
There were a total of 190 signatures on the pages submitted to the clerk. The clerk found most of the signatures were invalid. Only 88 were valid and 102 were not.
I don’t know the reasons for invalidating signatures but from a review of the petition many of them were invalid because the signer was not a city resident but instead was from the township, showing that the circulators don’t even know the difference. The proponents got more invalid signatures and valid ones.
The petitions were circulated by three paid signature gatherers (as certified on each sheet). They were from Sacramento and Glendale, California and Houston, Texas. The two California circulators had their certifications notarized in Kent County. The circulators all falsely swore that the persons signing the petition were registered voters in the City of the Village of Clarkston.
This initiative is promoted and paid for by outsiders who want to commandeer the city’s government by making the clerk responsible for granting their licenses and administering the detailed scheme in the petition for two dispensaries and by forcing the city council to enact or amend ordinances that will facilitate their permanent licenses.
Interestingly, council member Gary Casey was one of the people who signed the petition. One might question whether he now has a conflict in voting on matters related to this petition.
Richard Bisio
Clarkston