Hey Brian, How's The Petition Going?

Aug 11, 2011

I’ve heard that question a lot over the past couple of weeks. My answer is “getting more every day!”

First of all, the Open Access Petition now has 500 signatures as of today. That’s awesome! One sixth (1/6) of the way to our goal of 3000 after only three weeks. Our efforts are on track for 3000 in Sixty days.

We are now hitting the streets of Poplar Bluff house by house and collecting signatures. I’ll be on Baugh lane and Covington Meadows over the weekend. And others from our group will be walking other streets. At first, it was a bit foreign to me to go door to door, but honestly, it’s been fun for me to meet the great people of Poplar Bluff in this manner.

One of the best rewards, and it happens on every street, is when the homeowner says, “I’ve got the petition, and I’ll be turning it in once I have it filled up with six signatures!” That’s always a lift to our spirits.

One of the saddest things I’ve heard has been when a fireman came out of his home, shook my hand and said he wanted to sign it, but was informed at work that no employees of the city could sign the petition. He felt his job was on the line to sign it. I shook his hand and thanked him for putting his life on the line for those in distress and moved on to the next house. It is sad to know that the city would retaliate against people in this country. Good thing the ballot box is behind a curtain!

So, how’s the petition going? Great! We all look forward to taking our 3000 signatures into City Hall.

  1. Fred McKinney

    Brian, I live in the St. Louis area but my wife is from southeast Missouri, and in fact, she had a job right there in Poplar Bluff at the time we met. I’ve been following the case of the city screwing you guys over, and I really would love to see that crooked city ordinance overturned. Since I’m not from anywhere around there, I can’t sign the petition, but rest assured I’m cheering y’all on and keeping up to date on what’s going on with the case.

  2. James

    All I have to say is the city of Poplar Bluff is corrupt. From the Bottom all the way to the top. It starts at city hall and goes all the way to the street Department. I moved out of the city. I got so tired of it.

  3. Darrell Reese

    When the people fear the government it’s tyranny.
    When the government fears the people it’s liberty.

    -Thomas Jefferson

  4. Jeffrey Craft

    No one should be having to go door to door to gather signatures. The people of poplar bluff should be getting in line to sign up. After all it is the citizens of Poplar Bluff that will pay the price for a monopoly on the cable network. Competition means lower cost!

    1. Brian Becker

      I wish Jeffrey. But we are faced with the fact that in a city election, only 1000 people show up to vote. Barb Rexroat and I walked Pershing and Hickory tonight for two hours and got 35 signatures (over 1% of the 3000 needed). Everyone who signed agreed that the city’s monopolistic practices have to stop.

      I (and my knees) wish it didn’t take walking the streets. But I don’t know any other way.

      Tonight, several wouldn’t sign because they were scared that the city of Poplar Bluff would retaliate on them if their name appeared on the petition. Can you imagine holding your city in such fearful regard? How despicable our government has become to rule our people in fear. It made be so ashamed today to be a part of this city. One man spent six years in the Navy and four years in the Marines serving our country. He said he hated how this city deals with local business, but he feared that the city would raise his electricity bill if they saw his name on the petition. Again, I’m ashamed to have lived here so long and been a bystander as the reality of his fears have been proven over and over.

      One woman had her electricity turned off because a modem hadn’t been turned in within a preset period of time. One woman said that her father had city utilities for 40 years and paid their electric bill on time every month. But they were on vacation over the billing cycle and came home to rotten meat & spoiled foods because their electricity had been turned off.

      I told them, today it’s about Internet, but whats to keep us from stopping here. Poplar Bluff needs to be the example to the world of a great place to live. And I found NO ONE today that feels it comes close to that.

    1. Brian Becker

      Lee, I don’t see your name on the registry for Poplar Bluff voters. Are you sure you live in the city limits of Poplar Bluff?

  5. Fogeyman

    It may not be illegal for the city to tell employees they can’t sign the petition, but is is certainly unethical. Then again, it MAY be illegal and grounds for a lawsuit if the city does retaliate against employees who sign the petition.