Politics & Government

Sen. Grothman Recall Efforts Hit the Streets of Downtown Port

Two Sheboygan teachers collecting signatures until 1 p.m. Thursday.

Recall efforts against Sen. Glenn Grothman (R-West Bend) continued Thursday as two volunteers stepped out to the streets of downtown Port Washington to collect signatures for the cause.

"We got our first signature within a minute," said Sylvia Nicora, a teacher from Sheboygan, where the schools are currently on spring break.

"I just think everybody who voted for the 'nonbudget bill' should be recalled," said Jim Heyn, who also teaches in Sheboygan.

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Nicora agreed with Heyn's words, saying the passing of the Budget Repair Bill is reason enough to amp up the recall efforts.

"We're just happy to be out doing what we can," she said.

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Gov. Walker's bill, among other things, eliminates most collective bargaining rights for many public unions. Protests on both sides of the bill kept Madison streets and Wisconsin cities busy for weeks, stalling the passing of any fiscal items.

The Republicans removed the fiscal items and passed the bill, which was then signed by the governor. Recall efforts have been ongoing against several Democratic and Republican senators since the beginning of the protests.

Toby Miceli-Gwiazdowski, field organizer with Wisconsin Progess — one of the groups helping to organize the recall efforts —said the Ozaukee County area is a tough place to collect signatures because of the abundance of Republican support.

"It’s a challenging area, so that’s why we need to do everything we can," he said.

Miceli-Gwiazdowski also said it's hard to know the exact number of signatures that have been collected so far because of the various organized efforts in the area, but was optimistic about the turnout.

"Just the energy and the excitement that people have about it has been great," he said.

In Sheboygan, Heyn said teachers offered to pay out more toward their benefits than Gov. Scott Walker had asked in the initial bill. Heyn said that didn't seem to matter to Gov. Walker, as he still pressed on to limit collective bargaining rights. Heyn added that just proves further this has never been a fiscal issue.

"And yet that (extra payout) still isn't good enough," Heyn said. "They still don't know how to take 'yes' for an answer."

The two Sheboygan teachers will collect signatures until 1 p.m. Thursday. Other signature times are planned for end-of-school and commuting hours, and details will be updated on the group's website, recalltherepublican8.com.


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