Realtor Marty Donovan has told PNJ columnist Mark O’Brienthat his petition drive is still 1,500 signatures short of the necessary number (about 40 percent) needed to force a referendum on the Pensacola City Council’s approval of CMPA contract for the Design-Build of the Maritime Park.
Wait a second, Donovan led all of us to believe in June that the signatures were already in hand. Supposedly he have over 4,000 from his November 2009 petition that failed. He said the community overwhelmingly was behind him. Yet in 53 days, Donovan and Nobles only have 2,350 signatures, about 44 a day.
In 2006, Donovan had over 9000 signatures for his first attempt to stop his old rival Mort O’Sullivan, Quint Studer, PYP and rest of the Pensacola City Council. He gathered signatures at a 150-200 per day rate.
In 2009, when City Council passed the bond issue, Donovan went after O’Sullivan and Studer again. He never turned in his signatures so we don’t know how many he gathered. If he gathered 4,000, as he claimed, then his rate was 60-70 per day.
Now we have a petition drive for a referendum that won’t do anything. The City Attorney and the CMPA attorney both have rendered legal opinions that the park and the stadium contracts won’t be impacted by a referendum. Donovan and Nobles have offered no response to those opinions.
My sources close to those working on the petition drive say that they are only gathering about 30 signatures a day. And the old folks manning the station in front of the Publix are battling heat stroke and upset that Donovan. Nobles and the other eight who started the petition drive have disappeared….although I have gotten reports Donovan has done some door-to-door.
We know that Donovan always overstates his position. So 1,500 signatures is more than likely 1800-2000 signatures short.
Who will Donovan blame this time if he fails yet again? When will his followers see that he is a paper lion using them to exact his personal vendettas?
Work on the maritime park has begun. Stadium, Marina, amphitheater and the basic infrastructure will be completed by Dec. 2011.