And here’s the Pitch

“Have you heard about the big changes they are making in downtown Columbia?”

That was the opening pitch of Russ Swatek, the spokesperson for Taxpayers Against Giveaways, as he approached a shopper at the Harpers Choice Village Center in Columbia yesterday afternoon. The shopper acknowledged that they had heard something about it.

Russ went on to say that there was going to be 5,500 new housing units built in Town Center. “They don’t have the roads for that. Our traffic studies show they don’t have the roads for that now.”

Of course there are traffic studies that argue otherwise, not to mention the thirty year development timetable and the whole Adequate Public Facilities process.

This particular shopper knew better. They didn’t sign the petition. They did note that Russ was alone and didn’t seem to have many names on petition sheet.

It’s not that hard to get 5,000 registered voters to sign a petition. It’s not that easy either.

I’m beginning to think that Russ and his Tagalongs may not garner enough signatures to get on the ballot. It doesn’t look like they have a very deep bench.