PORT TOWNSEND — John Sheehan has declared the second round of his attempt to get a strong mayor vote on the ballot to be over.
Since early May, Sheehan — owner of Dogs-A-Foot, a hot-dog stand across Madison Street from Port Townsend City Hall — has sought registered voter signatures on his petition to force a vote on changing from a city manager-council form of government to a strong mayor form.
This week, he declared the movement to be dead — at least for the Nov. 4 general election.
“I didn’t get enough signatures in time for the November ballot,” Sheehan said.
“I was about 50 signatures short.”
Sheehan said he had close to 350 of the required 395 signatures – the required 10 percent of the city’s registered voters.
“I could have got them, too,” he said.
“But I’m working 80 hours a week, and I just didn’t have the time to go out and canvas.”
The deadline for putting a measure on the November ballot is Tuesday.
So, Sheehan had already missed his deadline, said Karen Cartmel, Jefferson County’s elections coordinator, saying he should have delivered it to the county auditor’s office in July.
“That petition would have needed to be submitted much earlier for time to get it certified, to be submitted to City Council to put it on their agenda, for City Council to pass a resolution, and then to bring it back and call for an election by the deadline,” Cartmel said.
“It definitely will not be on the ballot.”
