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Case Study:
State Library Bond Issue -- G.O. Bond C
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In 2002, Cooney, Watson & Associates, Inc. was
selected by the Books Bond 2002 Committee, a Political Action Committee,
to promote statewide passage of General Obligation Bond C –
a statewide measure to provide $16 million in funding for materials
to public, academic and school libraries throughout New Mexico.
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Challenges
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Convince the public to pass the bond, even though it would
mean a slight increase in property tax.
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Avoid confusion between this statewide bond and a number of
county library bond issues that we also on the same ballot
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Improve the passage margin from a similar bond issue in 1994
which had narrowly been approved – by a vote of just 53.4%
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Use a grassroots approach to mobilize supporters of the Bond,
from librarians to “Friends of the Public Library”
groups to Parent Teacher Organizations (PTOs) and others to
advocate for its passage in their local communities.
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Convince the public to take the time to vote on the Bond issues
which were included in an extremely long and complicated ballot
– experts estimated it would take at least 10-15 minutes
to vote even if the voter knew what he/she wanted to do before
casting his/her ballot.
Activities
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Development of a campaign logo, “Libraries Change Lives.”
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Development and statewide placement of opinion/editorial pieces
in 15 newspapers statewide
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Booking of radio interviews in specified markets with local
supporters and spokespersons
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Development of talking points for individuals making speeches/presentations
on the Bond issue
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Development of web-friendly information sheets on the benefits
that each type of library (public/academic/school) would realize
if the bond issue was passed
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Creation and dissemination of county-by-county and city-by-statistics
on how much each county and each city would realize in terms
of funding if the bond issue were passed
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Training and orientation of librarians on the Bond Issue C
and related advocacy activities at a statewide convention
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Implementation of statewide network of Bond Issue coordinators
who were responsible for generating awareness activities in
their local areas as well as serving as a liaison between these
coordinators and the statewide PAC
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Creation, production and dissemination of three Spanish and
one English radio spots
Results
The GO Bond C
campaign recorded the following results:
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Statewide GO Bond C passed by a margin of 59.6% -- the highest
approval rating given by voters to any of the five statewide
general obligation bonds and a 6.2% improvement over the results
of the 1994 Library GO Bond election.
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State GO Bond C was passed in 26 of 33 New Mexico counties
(78% of counties) in the 2002 election, compared to 13 of New
Mexico’s 33 counties (39%) that passed the 1994 GO Bond
for libraries.
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State GO Bond C received a higher percentage of “yes”
votes in EVERY county in New Mexico in 2002 than the 1994 Library
GO Bond did.
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