Weekend petition event to oppose Cape deer ordinance

A five-person petition committee aiming to force a referendum on the newly approved Cape Girardeau managed deer hunt will be looking for signatures Saturday.

A mass signing has been scheduled for 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday at Christ Church of the Heartland, 720 Bertling St. in Cape Girardeau.

Committee spokeswoman Dianne Sheppard said the signing will be held outside in the church parking lot and COVID-19 protocols will be observed.

“We’ll be gloved and masked, we’ll have boxes of pens so signers can have their own and you don’t even have to leave your vehicle,” said Sheppard, who is joined in organizing opposition to the Feb. 15 deer ordinance by fellow Cape Girardeau residents Keith Lear, Linda Crosnoe, Jay Crosnoe and Ramona Robinson-Bailey.

“We obviously can’t go door-to-door during a pandemic,” Sheppard added, “so we’re trying to make signing a petition as safe as possible.”

Sheppard said some volunteers have offered to take petitions, with the ordinance attached, directly to seniors at their places of residence.

Social media has been a fast way to get the word out about Saturday’s event but with the senior demographic, this kind of outreach can be problematic, she said.

“So many of our elderly do not have access to Facebook, and some have not been outside of their homes for as much as a year, so it’s an uphill challenge for older Cape residents to take part,” Sheppard said.

“Several people have contacted me via Facebook Messenger indicating a willingness to take the petition to their neighborhood to reach older folks off the social media grid,” she said.

Sheppard said for clarity, copies of the ordinance authorizing the Nov. 1 to Dec. 5 managed deer hunt will be attached to petitions.

“The goal is to get at least 2,400 valid signatures,” she said, acknowledging, by city charter, it will take a minimum of 2,383 certified names of residents, or 10% of registered voters from the city’s June 2 general election, to get a repeal referendum on the ballot.

Signatures must be received by the Cape Girardeau city clerk no later than March 29.

Dan Presson was the only city council member to vote “no” on the deer ordinance, which limits the hunt to four specific areas, all in Presson’s Ward 1 — Twin Trees, Delaware Park, Fountain Park and Cape Rock.

“(This hunt) is literally in the backyards of my neighbors and friends, and that’s what makes me uneasy about the entire managed hunt discussion,” Presson said Wednesday, adding he is “supportive” of citizens who seek recall.

“That’s the glory of this country, citizens have the ability to make their voices heard through petitions and recall votes,” he said.

In April 2013, a referendum to overturn the last ordinance to manage Cape Girardeau’s deer population via a hunt, successfully repealed the measure by a 1,485-1,279 vote.

Cape Girardeau Mayor Bob Fox recently said the 2021 managed deer hunt measure is quite unlike its predecessor.

The city has provided a link for residents to see the differences: www.cityofcapegirardeau.org/news/whats_new/managed_deer_hunt_fall_2021.