03/08/06 Watertown Council Forced Iraq Vote Suit, by Penny Eiler

Dear Editor: In his March 4 guest column, District 78 Republican Chairman William Richardson described me and the 13 other Watertown petition volunteers as an "anti-military left group" who used a lawsuit to "force" the Bring Our Troops Home referendum. Here's the truth:

We were exercising our First Amendment right to petition our government for redress. Wisconsin has a direct legislation statute, a 1911 law that is a part of Wisconsin's proud progressive tradition. We gathered the necessary signatures. According to the statute the Watertown City Council either has to adopt the resolution or put it on the ballot. They don't have to like it. Our aldermen chose to ignore the opinion of the League of Wisconsin Municipalities and refused us access to the ballot.

Our right to sue is outlined in the state statute. The City Council forced us to take this action if we wanted to honor the promise we made to 986 citizens that if they signed the petition the community would be given an opportunity to vote.

The city made the choice to gamble and the judge founded in our favor, also giving us reasonable attorney fees.

Mr. Richardson calls this "a partisan issue." I agree the community is divided, but it is not the referendum that is responsible. The division was there all along. The petition only empowered people to voice their discontent. Bottling up dissent in a community may seem like harmony to those whose opinion is assumed to be normative, but honest debate and airing of all opinions is healthier.