Three different petitioner groups are no longer allowed on campus due to violations in the Skyline College student handbook, according Amory Cariadus, adviser to the Student Services office.
Specific regulations on how petitioners may circulate petitions on campus are specifically stated in the Skyline College handbook. People wishing to post or solicit information must comply with regulations. Otherwise, petitioners may not solicit on campus, according to Cariadus. However, in the past semester, many of the rules listed in the handbook were violated more than once by the three different petitioner groups known as National Petitioning Consultants, H&H Petitions and the American Policy Center.
The very first petitioning group on campus, National Petitioning Consultants, appeared on campus in early December of last year. Cariadus said that the group’s official purpose on campus was to get students to register to vote. The petitioner group was asked to fill out a vendor contract, which, if approved, would allow them to be on campus.
Petitioners for National Petitioning Consultants were not getting students to vote. Instead, students complained to Cariadus that the petitioners weren’t circulating voter registrations; they were instead circulating for an initiative relating to Microsoft. Therefore, Cariadus asked them to leave for being in violation of regulations.
“I didn’t feel the students were getting necessary information and the group was told not to come back because of misrepresentation,” Cariadus said.
H&H Petitions appeared on campus in February without a vendor contract. Petitioner Don Williams was then asked to fill out a contract because he was eliciting initiatives to students on campus without permission. After a couple of days on campus, a student made a complaint to student services, saying that they were being harassed by this petitioner to sign initiatives without allowing the students to read them.
Cariadus also mentioned that as the student felt harassed, the petitioner himself felt as if he were being harassed by the student.
The last petitioner group, American Policy Center, came to Skyline on April 12. They filled out a vendor contract and gave 12 copies of their initiatives to student services. In the same case as the H&H Petitions, the petitioners for this group came to a verbal altercation with a student in the presence of witnesses.
Though the petitioners were given approval to solicit on campus, they had not fully executed a vendor contract with the student services office. In addition, when searching the address supplied by the petitioner on Mapquest.com, only a similar address can be located. When the group called student services asking to return to petition, they were told by student services that they were no longer allowed on campus.
“It’s interesting, because you walk a fine line to protect students, but there are freedom of speech issues,” said Cariadus. “That is why they should follow the ‘Time Place and Manner Policy,’ which is stated in the handbook.”
At least, three regulations under the Time Place and Manner Policy were violated by each of the petitioner groups. These regulations include:
“…to furnish the Facilities Office with appropriate details regarding the planned program…”
“Program plans must demonstrate that the program will not present or create undue health or safety risks to students, staff, or the public.
“Persons or organizations seeking to distribute materials on campus shall provide a copy of the material to the Coordinator of Student Activities.”
-Skyline College Student Handbook p. 147
When asked for comment from all petitioner groups, only the National Petitioning Consultants responded.
“The guy that went to Skyline College claiming he was one of us is a phony,” said the president of National Petitioning Consultants, Bryan Hancock.
According to Hancock, the man who signed under the vendor contract as Donald Klaas and a consultant of National Petitioning Consultants was not him, but a man named Terry Lee.
“He has been going around campuses using different companies as affiliates,” Hancock explained.
When asked if the student services office conducts background checks, Cariadus said, “The problem is that there is no way we can do background checks because we are short-staffed.”
“We don’t really check the addresses unless complaints are made, and the number that they give is usually a cell phone number.”
The initiatives are circulated by paid signature gatherers, as stated on each of the petitions as follows: “Notice to the public this petition may be circulated by a paid signature gatherer or a volunteer. You have the right to ask.”
However, in all three cases, students were not clearly advised on what they were signing because the petitioners did not allow students to read the text thoroughly and ask questions concerning the initiatives.
“If it’s something that you want on the ballot, the students have to know what they are signing,” Cariadus said.
