Erie petition has enough signatures to bring mineral rights deal to voters, says town clerk

Organizers for a petition to bring Erie’s mineral rights deal with SM Energy to a resident vote have already collected enough signatures, a letter from the town clerk says.

With over 1,500 signatures found valid, the petition could trigger a special election in December if it were to miss the cutoff to place a question on November’s ballot. In either case, Erie voters could be asked to support or oppose the deal to sell town-owned mineral rights to SM Energy.

The petition had until Aug. 7 to collect enough signatures — 45 days after the Erie Town Council approved the controversial SM Energy deal on a 4-3 vote.

A letter dated July 28 from Town Clerk Debbie Stamp said she found that the petition “has a sufficient number of valid signatures.”

The letter reads, “Initial Statement of Petition Sufficiency.” A final statement of sufficiency or insufficiency would follow a protest period, when any Erie voter residing in the town could file against the petition.

“A registered elector residing in the Town may file a protest under oath, setting forth the grounds for such protest,” the letter says.

Stamp’s letter, addressed to the petition’s organizers, says based on her review, the petition has more than 1,533 valid signatures — surpassing the minimum of 1,399 signatures required to place the measure in front of Erie voters.

Before receiving the letter from Stamp, organizer Emily Brecht on Tuesday morning kept details of the petition’s progress close in comments to the Daily Camera. Asked whether she would wait until the deadline to submit signatures to the town clerk or if it’s possible she would submit sooner, she said: “We will continue collecting signatures until the deadline!”

She declined on Monday to estimate how many signatures had been gathered but said Tuesday that she felt “very optimistic” that the petition would be successful.

Brecht would like to continue collecting signatures through the Aug. 7 deadline, she said.

“I believe the people who want to sign should still have the opportunity to do so up until the due date,” she said Wednesday. “Every signature shows the support for this referendum petition in our community.”

The referendum petition was submitted to the town Friday, according to the letter. Within 40 days after a referendum petition is filed, a voter may file a protest, the letter says.