http://ipraudio.interlochen.org/TCAPSbond_WEB.mp3
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this article stated that TCAPS was fined for violating Michigan campaign finance laws. The Secretary of State is still negotiating a settlement for the violations. We regret the error. The article has also been clarified to show that the Traverse City Area Chamber of Commerce was a supporter of the proposal from the start. (Audio version is unchanged.)
A proposal to raise more money for schools in Traverse City is sailing smoothly into the November election. A much larger proposal was a disaster for the school district last year. The turnaround demonstrates a couple simple rules about passing bond proposals.
Last year voters thought Traverse City Area Public Schools went overboard with a $100-million-dollar bond proposal. Much of the criticism focused in on a new auditorium for Central High School that was scorned as lavish and out of touch with current economic realities. Doug Luciani, the head of the Traverse City Area Chamber of Commerce and a supporter of the bond, says the proposal looked like a Christmas list to many people.
“Whether or not that was true, that was the perception," he says, “that they put everything they would ever want on one ballot issue.”
Luciani says it wasn’t clear how all the money would be spent and district officials seemed to do more damage as they tried to explain themselves.
“And the more TCAPS tried to show it had specifics, the more it seemed like they protested too much,” says Luciani. “And there was a lot of chatter about the efficacy of the administration and whether they could be trusted.”
The chamber saw the proposal would get shot down and stepped up its support and advocacy, but TCAPS lost and the district was cited for violating Michigan campaign laws. The former communications director resigned and the superintendent eventually apologized.
Ask voters first
School officials took stock last winter and did a series of focus groups, meetings, and surveys, both online and scientific. The 2013 bond proposal is only half as large and split in two parts. (The renovation of Central Grade School is gone, although that repair is unavoidable and will cost upwards of $20 million.)
TCAPS Board member Eric Falconer says the new proposal reflects all the input they gathered.
“The heavy lifting was done in crafting the proposals and to make sure they reflected what we heard,” says Falconer.
The school plans to spend less than half what it spent to promote last year’s bond proposal. So far, the campaign has the wind at its back. The Traverse City Record Eagle has endorsed both proposals. And the biggest critic last year, Tea Party blogger, Jason Gillman, is sitting this one out. Gillman says he’ll vote no but acknowledges the numbers are smaller and split into separate requests.
TCAPS Board member Erik Falconer says the difference is noticeable at public meetings. He says last year even in meetings with core support groups, like PTOs, there was resistance.
“And this year the conversation, after our informational presentation is often focused around ‘what can we do to help?’” says Falconer.
One wild card still could be the absentee voters, a group that voted no by almost a two-to-one margin last year and tends to be reluctant to increase taxes.
Otherwise, TCAPS could be heading for victory and a textbook example of how to sell a bond proposal. Start by asking voters what they’ll support, rather than finding out when they vote, and be clear about how the money will be spent.