Hydroplane Ban Petition Nearing Goal 800 Signatures Needed To Put Issue On Ballot

A group hoping to douse hydroplane racing permanently is within 800 signatures of getting a proposed ban on the city ballot.

Protect Our Lakes Association turned in petitions with 3,677 signatures to City Clerk Susan Weathers on April 12. Weathers determined that 2,408 of those signatures are valid.

The group needs 3,199 registered voters to sign on, and it has until May 22 to gather additional signatures. But it will take many more than 800 additional signatures to push the petition onto the city ballot.

Only about 62 percent of the signatures gathered to date have proved to be valid, said Kathy Canfield Davis of Protect Our Lakes. In many cases, the problem is as simple as a registered voter having moved to a new address since last registering, without notifying City Hall.

Then, when the voter signs up under his new address, the signature is judged invalid, Canfield Davis said.

Protect Our Lakes has gathered about 200 signatures since the April 12 deadline for the petitions. Under state law, the group has an additional 30 days to “perfect” the petition if it doesn’t have the number of required signatures.

“We will work right up until the deadline,” Canfield Davis said. New volunteers are turning out to pass around petitions because of the difficulty in getting enough valid signatures, she said.

While signature-gatherers are going to community events, the best strategy continues to be door-to-door work, Canfield Davis said. “That will be our primary focus,” she said.

Protect Our Lakes started pushing for a city ordinance to ban hydroplane racing after an attempt to bring the races back to Lake Coeur d’Alene stalled this winter. The group said it fears attempts to race the boats near Tubbs Hill will resurface.

Hydroplanes were raced in Coeur d’Alene from 1958 to 1968.

Officials at the Unlimited Hydroplane Racing Commission have said they would cross Coeur d’Alene off their proposed roster for good if enough signatures are collected to put the question on the ballot.

, DataTimes