Petition 35 signatures short

EPHRATA — The citizens' group of municipal and business leaders, who sought a freeholder election in November, needed an extra 35 petition signatures, according to official counts by the Grant County elections office.

County Auditor Bill Varney initially announced the group was more than 100 signatures shy of causing a freeholder election.

The group, Voters for Council-Manager Form of Grant County Govern-ment, wanted the current system of government in Grant County reviewed and changed. To get there, they first needed to collect 1,965 valid signatures — 10 percent of voters from the last general election — from registered Grant County voters to place the freeholder election on the ballot. Then, voters would have to vote in favor of the process going forward.

Twenty-one freeholders also would need to be elected, possibly seven from each Grant County commissioner district. The freeholders would have up to two years to study the current system of county government, determine if changes are necessary, and possibly draft a new charter. The new charter would then go before voters.

But it won't happen this year.

Grant County Auditor Bill Varney said the group has decided to review the results today.

"We're at the information gathering stage right now. We don't know what we'll do next," group spokesperson Ralph Kincaid said.

The group initially sought the help of the Grant County commission, hoping to eliminate the petition process. The commissioners could have simply placed the measure on the ballot.

Kincaid warned the commissioners repeatedly in past interviews, public hearings and the group's publications that choosing not to place the measure on the general election ballot and forcing them to collect the signatures would create an "adversarial atmosphere." Kincaid guaranteed the commissioners the group would collect the required number of petition signatures, if necessary.

"I don't know and I'm not going to go there," Kincaid responded when asked if the adversarial atmosphere might have played a factor in the auditor's decisions. "We are taking the next step and that is going over with (Varney) and seeing why they were kicked out," he added.

Varney said his office will be seeking advice from the Grant County Prosecutor's Office about how to handle any appeal.

"There's no appeal. That's the problem with this process, it's vague, there's no detail in it," Varney said.

"I think this is an important issue … clearly there is support for this," said Kincaid. "If we need more signatures, we'll get them … That means it might not go on the ballot this year, but it will next year."