They did it. In an hour or so, City Secretary Deborah Watkins will certify that TrinityVote has gathered and exceeded the statutory requirement of 48,000 signatures on petitions calling for a referendum on the Trinity River toll road.

At this hour, the word I get is that Watkins believes Angela Hunt’s group has the stuff, no matter what, and she intends to certify.

There may be some kind of last-minute effort to derail the entire thing on the basis of a legal gotcha. But more than 80,000 people signed those petitions: That’s more votes than anybody currently serving at City Hall has ever received. Anyone who would try derail that kind of mandate is either incredibly arrogant or incredibly desperate.

But anyway, it’s done. They got ‘em. It’ll be official shortly. It’s the world turned upside down. --Jim Schutze

• Schutze