Page 2-Wednesday, July 26, 1978-The Michigan Daily Petition opening upsets LANSING (UPI) - Tax cut cam- vision. He said all the petitions were donors will be asked to give to the new paigner Robert Tisch, insisting his returned to the box. ballot campaign, however. group violated no laws, yesterday filed Tisch, who launched his campaign for his organizational papers with the state a 50 per cent property tax cut on April THE CHECKS were tied together in two weeks after submitting petitions to 29, was notified nearly two weeks ago two long strings, and Tisch waved them place his proposal on the ballot. that he may have violated the reporting around for the benefit of the cameras. At an impromptu news conference requirements of the state's campaign He said he did not know how many outside a secretary of state's office, the finance reform law. checks there were, but there appeared Shiawassee County drain com- The law requires groups advocating to be about70. missioner charged state officials ballot propositions to file organizational The tall, gangly Laingsburg native violated a promise by opening sealed and financial statements. The said none of the checks - made out to boxes containing his petitions. He said organizational statement must be filed him personally - were cashed. He has some of the petitions may have been 10 days after the group is formed - said he and his wife bankrolled the removed from the building. when it receives or spends $200 or more. petition drive. "That makes us legal, fellas," Tisch BERNARD APOL, director of the THE LAW provides fines for failure said after filing the statement. secretary of state's elections division, to file on time. The status of the ballot said some petitions were removed from proposals themselves is not affected, "I DON'T SEE that any law has been one box and copied under strict super- however. broken at all," Tisch said. The organizational statement filed Tisch, who has brashly pledged to go yesterday lists July 15 as the date of to jail rather than pay any fines, said he THE MICHIGAN DAILY formation for Tisch's group, the Tisch does not expect to be fined. Wednesday, July No 1 Coalition for Property Tax Cut in He said he was "damned disturbed" is edited and managed by students at the University Michigan. about reports that petition boxes were of Michigan. News phone 764-0562. Second class Tisch said "a few thousand dollars" opened. He said he was promised the postage is paid at Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109. in contribution checks he received seal on the boxes would not be broken Published daily Tuesday through Saturday morning beginning May 10 will be returned. The without an observer from his during the University -year at 420 Maynard Street. TisC organization being present., APOL SAID he was unaware Tisch was unhappy about the handling of the petitions. "Everything that's filed here is sub- ject to the freedom of information act," he said. Among those reportedly receiving copies of Tisch petitions was Tom Downs, an attorney. DOWNS, AN EXPERT on elections, said he found several flaws in the petitions. Apol said state examiners will start inspecting the petitions next week. He said the checking process will take about two weeks. A spokesman for the campaign finan- ce reporting office said a superficial check of the Tisch statement will be made in a few days. He said the date of formation will not be double checked until the Tisch group files its first financial statement which is not due for well over a month. Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109. Subscription rates: $12 September through April (2 semesters); $13 by mail outside Ann Arbor. Summer session published through Saturday mor- ning. Subscription rates: $6.50 in Ann Arbor; '7.50 by mail outside Ann Arbor IT'S If you see it happening, call the tatI at 764- 0552 VOTED TO KEEP SHERIFF OFF BALLOT: Canvasser gave to Spreen foe LANSING (UPI) - One of the four state canvassers who voted to keep Oakland County Sheriff Johannes Spreen out of the Democratic primary for governor is a campaign contributor and law partner of another candidate. Detroit attorney Wallace Riley con- tributed $200 to the gubernatorial cam- paign of state Sen. Patrick McCollough, (D-Dearborn). McCollough also is a member of a law firm headed by Riley and George Roumell. Despite his financial support of Mc- Collough's campaign, however, Riley serves as a Republican member of the bi-partisan Board of State Canvassers. RILEY AND the three other board members voted for the second time last Friday to keep Spreen off the ballot. The board found that Spreen was more than 2,100 short of the 17,674 valid signatures he needed to enter the primary. Riley was the board member who made the motion to rule Spreen off the ballot. That action had been recom- mended by the staff of the state Elec- tions Division. Spreen said yesterday he will challenge the board's decision but has not yet decided in which court he will appeal. RILEY, IN A telephone interview, said he sees no conflict in the fact that he is an associate and campaign con- tributor of McCollough and voted to keep one of his opponents off the ballot. "Everyone here in the law office gave him a small contribution to get him started," he said. "I'm not in his campaign or involved' in it in any way. In fact, he really hasn't been active in the office for about a year now - ever since he started cam- paigning." CAMPAIGN records show Riley's contribution to McCollough's campaign was made last October. Under the campaign funding law, McCollough also wa§ able to collect another $200 from the state, making Riley's con- tribution worth a total of $400. "I don't see any conflict," Riley said. "I suppose there are a lot of members of the board who've contributed to campaigns." Riely said Spreen's candidacy "was doomed from the outset." "THERE'S NO way he could have made it," Riley said, noting that Spreen filed just over the minimum signatures needed. A 15-to-20 per cent cushion of signatures is recommended to make up for invalid signatures. "This isn't a question of Spreen ver- sus anybody else," he said. "It's a question of Spreen meeting the statutory requirements to get on the ballot - and he didn't." 'I don't see any conflict.' -Canvasser Wallace Riley Riley said he also has contributed to the campaign of Republican Gov. William Milliken. AN AIDE TO McCollough said he agreed with Riley that no conflict existed. "He wasn't representing Pat - he was there as a Republican member of the board,"' said Larry Tokarksi. "I don't think he's probably though about it - we hadn't." Tokarksi said McCollough and Riley "rarely see each other." The other Democrats in the primary for governor are state Sen. William Fit- zgerald of Detroit, former Public Ser- vice Commission member William Ralls of Okemos and East Lansing ac- tivist attorney Zolton Ferency. perodic) Rctrea Periodicals for Runners: MARATHONER RUNNER'S WORLD ON THE RUN A PERIODICAL RETREAT 336' S. STATE --(above Ann ArborMusic Mart) INFORMATION AND APPLICATIONS for FULBRIGHT-HAYS FELLOWSHIPS to Study Abroad are available at the GRADUATE FELLOWSHIP OFFICE 160 A RACKHAM BUILDING Deadline for submission of applications for 1979-80 competi- tionis , , 978