Petition drive for stadium referendum over – Atlanta Business Chronicle

A grassroots effort to force the city of Atlanta to schedule a voter referendum on the new $1 billion Falcons football stadium has come up short.

Common Cause Georgia announced Thursday it would be unable to gather the 35,000 petition signatures to put the public funding portion of the stadium on the ballot by the required deadline.

“As the clock runs out, it appears the ‘Hail Mary’ pass we threw up will not result in a touchdown,” William Perry, the organization’s executive director, wrote in an e-mail to Common Cause Georgia members and supporters.

“But as most football fans will tell you, if there is no other option to win a game and your team is down, you have to throw the ball up in the air and try your best – and we did.”

Perry conceded in June when the petition drive began that getting enough signatures would be a long shot. The group had only two months to wage its petition drive under the city’s charter and related ordinances, and the deadline is set to fall Aug. 10.

via Petition drive for stadium referendum over – Atlanta Business Chronicle.