Word: mccarney
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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There are three hazards to living in North Dakota, the residents there are fond of saying: blizzards, mosquitoes and Robert McCarney. A millionaire Ford auto dealer, McCarney, 65, is the all-time champion referendum holder in the state. He has forced so many laws to be tested at the polls that he has been referred to as "the fourth branch of state government." His current crusade is to stop North Dakota from spending some $18.5 million for new buildings. Boasts he: "Any benefit to the people of this state has come through my efforts, not the legislature...
...McCarney hitchhiked from Churdan, Iowa, to Bismarck in 1932 with 50? in his pocket and stayed to make his fortune selling cars, but the referendum is his game and he has been playing it with skill and delight since 1963. He failed that year to persuade the Republican state legislature not to increase income taxes. Then he discovered a swift way to block the legislation: gather 7,000 signatures and put the issue on the ballot. He collected the petitions, had his referendum, and nixed the tax increase by a margin...
Success followed success. In 1965 a McCarney referendum canceled another tax package, 4 to 1. In 1969 McCarney defeated plans for a $3.2 million state office building. Last year he scored three times when voters cut the state sales tax from 4% to 3%, ended it on electricity and halved it on farm equipment. In all, the initiatives and referendums cranked out by the crusty and imposing crusader (6 ft. 2 in., 218 lbs.) have saved the state's taxpayers some $200 million, according to his calculations...