Judge Stephen Rideout (ret.)
swrideout@aol.com
Dear Readers:
I am not sending you a Cambridge Matters article today but rather some documents related to the effort by the Dorchester Citizens for Better Government to obtain enough signatures on the two petitions that are attached to allow these issues to be placed on the ballot in the November 2022 election. I am also attaching a one page explanation for why these proposals were created along with a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) document. The two petitions have the proposed language on the back of Proposed Section 606 and a Summary of what is being proposed on the back of Proposed Sections 405-406 along with the complete language of those sections including current and new proposed language as required by the law.
The Dorchester Citizens for Better Government is now in the process of collecting the over 4500 signatures for each petition that are required to permit the Local Election Board to approve their being on the November Ballot. This is a monumental job in this county given how spread out we are, so in addition to the above, I am asking for your help.
First please read the attached. If you agree with what we are trying to do, think about how you could help. In order to help, the people who need to sign these petitions are registered voters. It does not matter if they live in the county outside of a city or in a city. We are all citizens of the county. What kind of help could you provide?
Would it be collecting signatures of your neighbors who are registered voters? Collecting them at church or at some group that you are involved in? Volunteering as the weather is warmer by sitting at a table in Cambridge, Hurlock, or some public event where you live and talking with your neighbors about these matters? Holding an event at your church or group and inviting me or someone from our group to come and explain why we are seeking these changes to the county charter? There is no one answer.
If you have questions and want to talk about what we are trying to do, take a look at the zoom link below which is a training video that Gene Lauer and I did to help people understand the issues and also know how to collect signatures. If that does not answer your questions, email me or call me at 703-655-6149.
Passcode: B?^Dl7HC
We need to collect these signatures over the next 3-4 month in order to timely file them with the County Government and the Election Board. We also hope to be able to appear before the County Charter Commission and ask them to propose these to the County Board for placement on the November Ballot, but we are unsure if the County Board would agree to do that.
The proposed changes are not radical. They are common sense solutions to some of the challenges that we see are present in the way that county government is run.
For those of you that are already helping, thank you. For those of you who have already signed these petitions thank you. Please tell people you know why you signed them. Help us get the word out.
Thank you for considering this request.
Steve