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from the Ventural County Star
http://www.insidevc.com/vcs/ve/article/0,1375,VCS_251_1851166,00.html
from the Ventural County Star
http://www.insidevc.com/vcs/ve/article/0,1375,VCS_251_1851166,00.html
Ventura gun show group circulates petition to recall Davis
By Aron Miller, [email protected]
March 30, 2003
The effort to recall Gov. Gray Davis made its way to Ventura County for the first time Saturday, with hundreds signing a petition at a gun show in Ventura.
During the first six hours, about 600 people had put their signatures behind the grass-roots campaign to get rid of the governor, including some who voted for him.
Joyce Bergthold, 59, and her husband Gary, 65, both backed Davis in the November election. They're not happy with him now, especially with a $35 billion budget shortfall hanging over the state.
"I think he knows what's been going on and he didn't do anything about it," Bergthold said, referring to the recent energy crisis that proved a major factor in the budget woes.
Rich Porter, an organizer of the local petition drive and member of Firearms Freedom Council of Ventura County, said he thought getting people to sign would be a "hard sell," but supporters were lining up to help recall Davis.
Gerald Goldberg, also a member of the firearms group who helped gather signatures Saturday, explained the backing.
"There are a lot of groups upset with Davis," he said. "He managed to alienate a large section of the population."
The pro-gun contingent that showed up for the gun show at Seaside Park was a good place to start the recall drive locally, Porter said. One of the gun owners at the show didn't hesitate to sign the petition.
"The rights of the Second Amendment to own guns is being denied here in California," said Alex Jones, 56, of San Pedro, who described himself as nonpartisan. "No person has ever been saved by gun control."
Of the signatures collected Saturday, most came from residents of Ventura, Los Angeles and Santa Barbara counties, but six other counties also were represented, Porter said.
One name not on the petition was Hank Lacayo, the immediate past chairman of the Ventura County Democratic Central Committee. He said the recall effort was ill-timed with the war in Iraq and unfair.
"Of course I'm against it," he said. "I think these folks are taking advantage of the situation in the state. I'm not sure anybody outside of Davis could have done any better with what's going on today."
To get the recall measure on a special-election ballot, organizers need to gather almost 900,000 signatures in the next 160 days.
Next to the petitions laid out on a table Saturday was a flier showing the governor holding two guns blazing. Beneath his picture read, "El Bandito -- Davis."
"Gray Davis is gunning for your guns and your money and it's time to do something about it! You are in his sights, we must recall him now!" the flier read.
2001 © The E.W. Scripps Co.