Jamiel’s Law has 18,559 signatures
When I received Walter Moore’s email yesterday reporting that City Clerk workers counted only 18,559 Jamiel’s Law petition signatures, I felt a little of that feeling I imagine journalists feel when they realize they’ve been spun. Not quite bamboozle; more like mild betrayal.
I’m guessing Walter felt some of the same, because his message was short and to the point—the “estimate” of 76,000 signatures was wrong, “let’s get up, dust ourselves off,” etc. That Walter wasn’t prepared to join the conspiracy watchers apparently irked Althea Shaw enough to earn Walter a thinly-veiled swipe on Mayor Sam: “I also don’t understand why a major supporter of Jamiel’s Law would send out an email blast of defeat before speaking to us.”
It probably takes a certain belief in the impossible to get something like Jamiel’s Law done in a disconnected city of four million, but quite possibly, its biggest obstacle has been in its supporters’ refusal to deal in reality.
