GARDEN GROVE : Anti-Oil Drilling Campaign to Begin

A petition drive for a ballot measure that would effectively ban oil and gas drilling in the central portion of the city will begin Monday, its chief organizer said.

The Garden Grove GOO (Get Oil Out) group, headed by Woodrow Butterfield, is seeking to ban oil and gas drilling within 800 feet of churches, schools or homes. While the ban would be citywide, its intent is to forestall any future plans by Chevron USA to drill from its site at Pearl and Nelson streets near downtown. A request by Chevron for a drilling permit was rejected last June on a 3-2 vote of the City Council.

Councilmen J. Tilman Williams and Robert F. Dinsen and local businessman Bruce Broadwater are listed as the official sponsors of the initiative.

“We have 2,500 blank petitions ready to go out,” Butterfield said. “We don’t anticipate having any problems getting enough signatures.”

The group has missed the May 31 deadline given by City Clerk Carolyn Morris for submitting 5,700 signatures to ensure a spot on the November ballot. But Butterfield, a local businessman and political activist, said he is still confident.

“We haven’t been knocked off track,” he said. “There are many ways it can happen. If we get 15% of the voters (compared to the 10% required for a regularly scheduled election) we can have (a vote) any time we want,” with a special election.

Alternatively, the city could save the cost of an election if the council adopted the ban after the initiative qualified for the ballot.