Volunteers Battle Chilly Climate to Collect Signatures for Sen. Grothman Recall

A few more signatures have been collected in the effort to recall state Sen. Glenn Grothman as volunteers hit the streets of Port Washington and Saukville again on Saturday.

Ann Juno, who is volunteering near , said she took offense to Sen. Grothman's remarks that called protesters "slobs." But, she said, recall organizers have a new meaning for slobs: "Stopping legislators' obnoxious bad stuff."

Recall efforts have been ongoing against several Democratic and Republican senators since the beginning of the protests against Gov. Scott Walker's bill, which 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 passage of any fiscal items.

The Republicans removed the fiscal items and passed the bill, which was then signed by the governor, and is now being challenged in court.

Volunteers are also collecting signatures in front of , 805 E. Green Bay Ave., Saukville, and in front of , at the corner of South Spring Street and West Grand Avenue in Port Washington.

Most volunteers planned to be out until about 2 p.m., but John Stanco said he planned to stay in front of the dealership until the cold sent him home.

Richard Schwalb has been coordinating some of the efforts in the area, and said volunteers first meet at , 116 W. Grand Ave., Port Washington, before hitting the streets. The meeting times are 11 a.m. until 2 p.m. Saturdays, and noon to 3 p.m. Sundays.

The volunteers are holding signs with sayings such as, "We're not slobs, we're Wisconsin." Some people have honked in support of the cause while driving past, while others have yelled at the volunteers, calling them hippies and hurling profanities.

Grothman has not returned phone calls seeking comment, but in previous conversations with Patch had said he is already planning to start efforts of his own, raising funds needed to campaign for his spot if the recall efforts are successful.

"I am up for election next year, and I think it’s unfortunate some people want to spend thousands of dollars having an early election," Grothman said. "I am going to have to start raising money aggressively to deal with this threat."