If you live in the Village of Williamsville, chances are that you’ve received a visit in the past three months from someone carrying a petition regarding village dissolution.

On June 2, government reform activist Kevin Gaughan submitted a petition with 620 signatures to bring a referendum on the question of village dissolution. But some of those who signed the petition feel misled and would like their signatures removed.

Last week, The Amherst Bee uploaded an electronic file containing all the signatures of persons who signed petitions in favor of a referendum to dissolve the village. To see the petitions, visit www.AmherstBee.com and click on the link.

Andrea Sullivan stated that she was taken off guard by the individual soliciting her signature.

“One Saturday morning, my doorbell rang, and there was a person with a petition. He presented it in such a way that led me to believe that the plan to dissolve was already in place,” she said. “I got the impression that it was a settled issue.”

Sullivan said the person framed the petition as a chance for average residents to have a say in the process. Megin Wolf-Kibler received the same impression from carriers who came to her house.

“When they came around, I asked if they were with the group that was for dissolution or against it. They said they were independent and here for the residents,” she said.

Wolf-Kibler states that she was told there would be no vote unless she signed the petition. She also received the impression from the petition carrier that dissolution could go through without a vote. Believing that residents deserved to have a say in the matter, Wolf-Kibler signed the petition.

Village administrator Lynda Juul states she has received several inquiries regarding how to have a name removed from a petition. There is no provision in the law for this, but she has requested an answer from the state attorney general.

Juul is advising people who feel they have signed the petition in error to bring a witnessed, preferably notarized copy of their signature to Village Hall before the end of the day on Friday. By law, the village has until Saturday to verify the signatures.

Gaughan states that his volunteers did not mislead village residents into signing the petition.

Gaughan has submitted a letter to Juul with 17 names of people who would like their names removed from the petition for various reasons, including those of Sullivan and Wolf-Kibler.

Click Here to view the signatures on the petition to bring a referendum on village dissolution.