The World Trade Center site, this summer.Photo: Getty Images
For weeks, Les Jameison told supporters, reporters, and petition gatherers that it was possible to put a citizens referendum for a new privately financed 9/11 commission on New York City’s November ballot. From this week’s New York:
They’re calling for a privately funded investigative panel, empowered with subpoena authority by the City Council and staffed with their own slate, including former senators Lincoln Chafee and Mike Gravel, 9/11 widow Lorie Van Auken, and Asner. They’d redo the work of Tom Kean’s federal commission, which they call “seriously flawed.
Now we hear that the initiative has come up short of the requisite 30,000 signatures and will have to extend its petition drive to the next election cycle. “We were hoping to get the signatures to the City Council (before September 4) but we have come up short and are very disappointed we have run out of time,” Jameison said. The Brooklyn Web designer claims the campaign has gathered 25,000 signatures and says he will soon send a formal notice to supporters of the initiative nationwide. These include 9/11 widow Lorie Van Auken and Ed Asner (who have agreed to serve on the proposed commission) and financial donors like human-rights lawyer William Pepper, former Dallas Cowboy Mark Stepnoski, and California businessman Michael Davis. —Mary Reinholz
Related: Asner vs. Cheney in NYC 9/11 Commission [NYM]
