Board talks strategy for school bond vote
By LAURA THORNBURG
Staff
In preparation for the March 2008 special election, the members of
the Alleghany County Board of Education met with Luan Ingram, the
chief communication officer with Union County Schools, to discuss
strategies surrounding the upcoming referendum.
Over the course of the three-hour meeting, Ingram addressed items
such as the importance of explaining the basics of and exactly what a
bond referendum is and how it would affect the community, a timeline
and different stages of the campaign.
Ingram explained to the board members, "In Union County, bond
referendums are really not about whether or not you vote yes or no
for the bond referendum. What it's about is you're voting for a
funding mechanism."
In a county in which bond referendums are voted on about every two
years, Ingram commented, "It is just as difficult, it takes just as
much time and just as much energy to pass a $7.5 million bond
referendum as it does to pass a $175 million bond referendum. The
process is the same and the basics are the basics. People have to see
the results of it. If they can't see what they pay for, they're not
going to vote again for it. When your bond referendum passes, you're
going to need to bring those buildings out of the ground as quickly
as possible."
Ingram went on to remind the board that a bond referendum "is about
money, but also it's about confidence in your school system. If this
community does not have confidence—if you had some major
controversial things going on—the vote is a vote of confidence in
your school system. If people are dissatisfied with the schools, it's
so easy for them to vote ‘no' and have a good reason to, but I don't
think that's the case here. It's a small system, it has a lot of
community support. I get the feeling that your community does support
the schools."
The last time the local school board asked that a bond referendum be
put on the ballot was in August of 1993. The measure failed by 125
votes.
She reminded the school board members it is their responsibility to
put out information on the school bond referendum.
"Determine what the public needs to know—write it to pass the Wal-
Mart test." In layman's terms, the information needs to be written in
a way that it could be read and understood by all. "Have lots of
people to read it and ask them what it means to them. If they get it,
you're meeting your audience's needs," Ingram added. "The information
needs to be answers to questions people are going to ask," she said.
"You also need to tell them about the tax implications somewhere in
this information. The only thing you cannot tell them is to vote
‘yes' for it. That's when you go across the line."
In an attempt to make the upcoming bond referendum successful,
Ingram suggested the school system use a grass roots campaign. In
this form of campaign, neighbors tell neighbors and individuals
discuss the issue in general.
"I want to get to the people and I want to talk among the people that
I know that are potential ‘yes' voters to make sure they have a full
understanding."
Ingram also addressed two points that are critical during any
campaign, timing and be sure not to talk excessively about money.
"The most important thing that people do in a bond referendum is your
timing. Timing is everything. You put out too much information too
fast and talk about it too long, people get so sick and tired of it
they'll be ready to vote ‘no' when the time comes. The timeline is
short."
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