About two weeks remain until seven residents must submit thousands of verified signatures to the Summit County Clerk’s Office for the Dakota Pacific development decision to be put up for a vote.
The referendum petition sponsors need to collect 4,554 certified signatures from voters for the petition to succeed, and they said they’re more than halfway toward their goal. The group — Scott Greenberg, Joe Urankar, Ruby Diaz, Robert Lattanzi, Shawn Stinson, Brendan Weinstein and Jennifer Sexsmith — won’t say what their actual collection goal is, but they noted that it’s higher than the required number to account for signatures that may be rejected or removed from the petition.
“We need people to turn out in droves from now until our March 3rd deadline,” the sponsors said in a statement.
So the referendum sponsors are hosting a county-wide gathering drive from noon to 4 p.m. on Saturday. The sponsors and a team of volunteers will gather in the parking lots of the Coalville, Kamas and Kimball Junction branches of the Summit County Library to collect signatures.
Volunteers in each parking lot will approach car windows with the petition to keep things quick and easy for signers. The referendum sponsors need to secure endorsements from 16% of registered voters across the county, as well as 16% of voters in three out of the four precinct areas.
“The task of gathering enough signatures is daunting even under the best of circumstances. … Holidays, the Sundance Film Festival, snow, the upcoming February school break, and what the sponsors consider sabotage and interference are only complicating matters. Meanwhile, printing costs for the 160-page packets signature gatherers are required to present to potential signers in their entirety have already exceeded $3,000,” the group said in a statement.
The sabotage the sponsors are referring to is the Wasatch Back Future countermovement created by the development firm and its preliminary municipality incorporation petition, public comments made by Summit County staff and officials in support of the development as well as misinformation, and reports of the Summit County Sheriff’s Office being called to shut down signature gathering efforts on private property.
“We elect people to represent us and our values,” the sponsors said. “Never before has Summit County seen such sustained bipartisan support on an issue. It’s disappointing the majority of County Council not only decided to vote against a clear majority, voting instead in favor of a thoroughly lopsided deal they negotiated out of public view, and it’s utterly demoralizing for constituents that some are now using their free time to attack the only recourse we have as voters to represent ourselves.”
Petition sponsors advocated for the referendum process, saying it’s a tool the state makes available to constituents as a way to uphold democracy and find a collective voice.
Summit County Manager Shayne Scott is adamant the County Courthouse has taken a neutral stance on the referendum. Instead, he encouraged residents to learn the facts before making a decision.
The referendum information pamphlet is available at summitcounty.gov/referendum. Information about where signature-gathering efforts are taking place can be found at protectsummitcounty.org.