Santa Ana : SAMSON Signature Drive Begins Today

A group of residents plans to begin a weeklong canvas of the city today in search of 6,288 voters’ signatures on petitions that could change the way the city’s government is structured.

The group, called SAMSON (Santa Ana Merged Society of Neighbors), probably could have begun collecting the signatures on Monday but decided to wait a day “rather than give anybody the right to question what we’re doing,” SAMSON member Jim Lowman said.

By law, the signature-gathering process may not begin until 21 days after a notice of intent to circulate petitions is published, Lowman said. The group’s notice was published Jan. 27 in a local newspaper, making Monday the 21st day if the day the notice appeared is counted. But city officials who oppose the group’s efforts might have argued that the 21st day was not until Tuesday, Lowman said, and might have challenged the validity of the petitions if SAMSON had started circulating them on Monday.

“We don’t want to take a chance,” said Lowman. “Besides, it’s not that important to us. We are using today to get better organized, and a week from today we’ll present them (the signed petitions) to the city clerk. We’re going to succeed.”

The SAMSON petition calls for the direct election of the mayor and separation of his office from the City Council, and the election of council members by wards. A ballot measure proposing those changes could be put to a citywide vote in a special election in June if the group obtains enough signatures by next week--although state law requires only that the council put the measure on the next regularly scheduled election ballot, which is in November.