District politics: tired of losing the vote on bond issues and tax levies? Find out how some administrators are hiring consultants to create winning strategies.

District politics: tired of losing the vote on bond issues and tax levies? Find out how some administrators are hiring consultants to create winning strategies. Superintendent Ann Moore didn't think she was doing anythingwrong. Her Huntsville (Ala.) City School District needed $9.6 millionmore per year to maintain a variety of enrichment programs, includingone for gifted students. She opted to appeal directly to the taxpayers,the ultimate arbitrators. Prior to the tax vote, held in mid-January, Moore talked up the taxincrease to community leaders and chatted about it at PTA PTAor parent-teacher association:see parent education. meetings. Shepersuaded school principals to lobby for two tax referendums over schoolloudspeakers and to use signs in front of their schools, according to according toprep.1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians.2. In keeping with: according to instructions.3. local reports. Instead of being noted for her willingness to face the public andexplain her reasons for asking for more money during a recession, shewas accused of being unethical unethicalsaid of conduct not conforming with professional ethics. . "Employees of taxpayer-fundedschools should not campaign during work time, nor should governmentfunds, supplies or facilities be used to promote a position on avote," attorney Dean Johnson Dean Elton Johnson (born June 24, 1947) was formerly the majority leader of the Minnesota Senate. He was first elected to the Senate in 1982 and represented the 13th Senate District. complained to the local media. TheHuntsville Times reported that voters had mixed feelings about beinginundated in��un��date?tr.v. in��un��dat��ed, in��un��dat��ing, in��un��dates1. To cover with water, especially floodwaters.2. with political messages coming from the superintendent and theschools. As the superintendent and attorneys haggled over the legalitiesof using school time to promote a political cause, the voters becamewary. In the end, the voters rendered a split decision. Moore won on onetax measure, but lost on another, denying the district the money itsought. Moore insists the responsibility of her office requires her topromote anything good for the district. She might be right, but her political approach was all wrong,according to some advice given by political consultants. Politicalconsultants who specialize in education issues have a game plan forgoing to the voters. "Superintendents should reach out to thecommunity in the pre-bond stage," says Larry Remer, president ofThe Primacy Group, a San Diego-based political consulting Political consulting is the business which has grown up around advising and assisting political campaigns, primarily in the United States. As democracy has spread around the world, American political consultants have often developed an international base of clients. firm."After the bond is on the ballot, the superintendent has to shutup. Then the teachers and parents have to go out and sell," hesays. Even then, they have to be careful about how they promote theircause. Grassroots efforts are usually best. Overt campaigning on schooltime is dicey dic��ey?adj. dic��i��er, dic��i��estInvolving or fraught with danger or risk: "an extremely dicey future on a brave new world of liquid nitrogen, tar, and smog"New Yorker. . Some states even have rules that prevent a superintendentfrom directly campaigning. Uncovering Hot Issues Several superintendents who have won tax referendums and leviespassed say the advice of political consultants has made the differencebetween winning and losing. Superintendent James Fleming James Sydney Clark (Jim) Fleming, PC (born October 30 1939) is a former Canadian broadcaster and politician.Fleming had careers in radio and television at the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) and CTV. , head of theCapistrano (Calif.) Unified School District A unified school district is a school district which includes both primary school (kindergarten through middle school or junior high) and high school (grades 9-12). In Illinois, these districts are called unit school districts. , credits The Primacy Groupfor gaining support for a tax bond issue. In 1999, Fleming was pushingfor Measure A to raise $65 million for school repairs and construction.It was Fleming's first experience with a bond issue in his 11 yearsin the district. "I depended on Larry," says Fleming. "Hewould tell me the most effective venue for me to make a point. Sometimesit was beneficial to talk to the chamber of commerce. At other times Iappealed to elected school board members and parent and teacherleaders." Parents, teachers and business leaders then became theconduits to the voting public. Remer's game plan for the Capistrano bond issue involved voterpolling months before Measure A came to a vote. Telephone calls toresidents gauged how they felt about the schools and the bond issue. Thecalls yielded useful-and unexpected-data used to direct the campaign. "When we planned to do the bond issue, we were going to focuson renovating older schools," Fleming says. "We were talkingabout replacing roofs. But when we polled the community, we found thehot issue was new schools to relieve overcrowding overcrowdingovercrowding of animal accommodation. Many countries now publish codes of practice which define what the appropriate volumetric allowances should be for each species of animal when they are housed indoors. Breaches of these codes is overcrowding. ." Althoughrenovation was actually the goal for raising the bond money, thecampaign's thrust became: Let's make our schools smaller andgive students more personal attention. Sometimes Fleming would sit in on the phone polling, which wasconducted in the evening. He would even talk directly to the voters, butonly after making clear that he was volunteering in his off-hours totalk to taxpayers. The approach paid off. Capistrano's Measure A passed with 73percent of voters approving the funding. Pivotal Polling Strategies Just last year administrators in Ohio's Worthington SchoolDistrict turned to Winning Connections, a Washington, D.C.-basedpolitical consulting group, to help pass a tax levy. Having suffereddefeat on the measure in November 2000, education leaders knew theyneeded to be on the offensive for an upcoming May 2001 vote. A telephonepolling strategy by Winning Connections helped clinch the vote. After aninitial telephone poll of voters, Winning Connections weeded out thosewho were opposed to the levy. Then, an all-out telephone campaign,conducted days before the election, reached out to those who had shownempathy in the past. They were reminded to get to the polls. The levywas passed, by 53 percent of voters In November, only 43 percent votedfor the measure. Eighth Time is a Charm Worthington followed in the steps of a school district inGroveport, Ohio Groveport is a village in Franklin County, Ohio, United States. The population was 3,865 at the 2000 census, and estimated to be 4,926 as of July 2006.Groveport was the hometown of John Solomon Rarey, a nineteenth century horse whisperer, and developer of the Rarey , which was up against even greater obstacles in 1998.Superintendent Ross Dunlap had watched voters defeat seven earlier taxlevy attempts. "There was resistance to supporting school issuesbecause voters felt there was a better way to fund schools than simplyrelying heavily on property taxes," explains Dunlap, superintendent of Eastland-Fairfield Career and TechnicalSchools, which serve 1,069 students from various counties. Dunlap neededhelp to pass the levy going before voters for an eighth time. "Thetask of getting the message out was pretty overwhelming,''says Dunlap. The superintendent was first made clear about hisrestrictions. Ohio law prohibits a superintendent from advocating for atax levy. He could present facts, but not suggest solutions to financialproblems. "By May 1997, our district was in financial trouble,"says Dunlap, who adds that he routinely repeated this basic message tovoters, while stating that he was not necessarily advocating for thelevy. The district was seeking to replace operating funds that wereprovided by an expired mill rate increase, which was valid for only afive-year span and dropped in 1992. Gone went $3 million in additionalproperty taxes. Winning Connections, led by national consultant John Jameson For John Jameson, the Man-Wolf, see John Jameson (comics).For other uses, see John Jameson (disambiguation).John Jameson (March 6, 1802 - January 24, 1857) was an American farmer, lawyer, and politician from Fulton, Missouri. He represented Missouri in the U.S. ,helped Dunlap develop a business plan. Local business leaders were askedfor either monetary contributions or donations of goods and services In economics, economic output is divided into physical goods and intangible services. Consumption of goods and services is assumed to produce utility (unless the "good" is a "bad"). It is often used when referring to a Goods and Services Tax. ,such as promotional printing. While there were some large contributors,most of the $60,000 raised came from small businesses that gave, atmost, $100. Winning Connections was paid from the funds raised. Winning Connections made at least 5,000 calls to voters. As withother campaigns, the consultants made note of the empathetic em��pa��thet��ic?adj.Empathic.empa��theti��cal��ly adv. voters, andmade eleventh hour reminders to get out the vote. The levy passed, granting the school district $3.2 million forstaffing, operating expenses Operating expensesThe amount paid for asset maintenance or the cost of doing business, excluding depreciation. Earnings are distributed after operating expenses are deducted. , services and supplies, says Dunlap, whosetotal budget is $14 million. He credits the work of Winning Connectionsin ending the seven-year "election drought." www.primacygroup.net www.winningconnections.com www.theaapc.org Who Pays for Political Advisors? GOOD ADVICE COSTS MONEY. Remer's Primacy Group charges schooldistricts $6,000 per month for consulting services. Voter polls comewith a $30,000 price tag. Considering a successful campaign startsmonths--even a full year--in advance of the vote, and that a consultingfirm Noun 1. consulting firm - a firm of experts providing professional advice to an organization for a feeconsulting companybusiness firm, firm, house - the members of a business organization that owns or operates one or more establishments; "he worked for a may have to conduct several voter polls, the cost to hire PrimacyGroup can easily surpass $100,000. Voters are bound to be upset by this expense. Consultants saydistricts should address the controversy. Let voters know that their taxdollars are untouched. Campaigns that push for school bond measuresshould be paid for with local campaign contributions, say experiencedsuperintendents. In the case of the bond issue in Ohio's Eastland-Fairfieldschool district, the fundraising was conducted during a two-year period.Superintendent Ross Dunlap had to start early. A tax levy to improveschools, which had been defeated seven times between 1992 and 1997,needed explaining as it came before voters for an eighth time. During1997 and 1998, the district raised $60,000 in donations, which were usedto pay for media placement, public relations public relations,activities and policies used to create public interest in a person, idea, product, institution, or business establishment. By its nature, public relations is devoted to serving particular interests by presenting them to the public in the most and the politicalconsulting fees. In the Capistrano Unified School District Capistrano Unified School District (CUSD) is the second largest school district in Orange County, California and the 95th largest in the United States. The school district serves the following cities: Aliso Viejo Dana Point Laguna Niguel Mission Viejo , Superintendent JamesFleming stayed out of the fund-raising effort Noun 1. fund-raising effort - a campaign to raise money for some causefund-raising campaign, fund-raising drivecrusade, campaign, cause, drive, effort, movement - a series of actions advancing a principle or tending toward a particular end; "he supported . Fearing that solicitingdonations would tarnish tarnish,n 1. surface discoloration or loss of luster by metals. Under oral conditions, it often results from hard and soft deposits.2. a chemical process by which a metal surface is discolored or its luster destroyed. his image, he formed a committee, comprised ofPTA members and business leaders, to do what he calls the"macro-fundraising." He did, however, contribute personally tothe campaign. Jean Marie Jean Marie may refer to: Anne Jean Marie Ren�� Savary (1774-1833), French general and diplomatist Charles Jean Marie Barbaroux (1767-1794), French politician Georges Jean Marie Darrieus (1888-1979), French aeronautical engineer Angelo, jangelo@ edmediagroup.com, is senior editor.