L.A. fire alarm - issues concerning the passage of Proposition 218

How a Targeted Absentee Ballot Effort Restored Funding for an Endangered Fire District in Los Angeles County

Asking voters to tax themselves tests the mettle of every campaign strategist. Asking voters to do so in an anti-tax political climate would appear to be a "mission impossible". This was the case of the campaign to pass Proposition E on the June 3, 1997 Los Angeles County ballot.

Although California's Proposition 13 was passed nearly two decades ago, its legacy lives on. In November '96, the evolution of this famous initiative continued with the passage of Prop 218, which mandated that any new local tax would have to be decided by a vote of the people.

The unforeseen consequences of Prop 218 quickly became evident for government agencies funded through special taxing mechanisms. One such agency at risk was the Los Angeles County Fire Department, which received 17 percent - $51.7 million - of its annual operating budget from a "Special Benefit Assessment" paid by property owners. The passage of Prop 218 put an end to the assessment.

The Fire Department projected a closure of 20 fire stations, the immediate layoff of 285 firefighters and paramedics, the loss of 34 engine companies and the demotion and reduction in rank of over 300 other personnel. Since the fire department is a public agency, staff were forbidden by civil service rules to campaign on behalf of Prop E.

With a significant funding cut looming and a constitutional prohibition against using general fund revenues to finance the Fire District, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors filed a lawsuit to have the benefit assessment' exempted from Prop 218. When the suit lost, the only option was for the County to place a measure on the ballot that would authorize a replacement tax.

Our firm, The Kamber Group, was hired 10 weeks prior to the election to help pass the new tax measure. Passage legally required two-thirds voter approval. Initial polling painted a bleak picture, Showing support for Prop E hovering below 50 percent of the vote.

The Fire Department was prohibited from spending public funds on the campaign, and fire stations were prohibited from displaying any campaign signs or dispensing materials. Compounding the situation: Most recent tax and bond measures in Los Angeles have failed to pass. One that did pass, a School Repair Bond, did' so only after its second attempt. To make matters worse, the School Board tried to use the bond funds to build a new school instead of repairing existing classrooms. A firestorm of protest created a negative atmosphere toward any future tax and bond issue.

Clearly, if Prop E was to succeed, proponents would have to restore public confidence in the self-taxing concept, itself.

The burden for funding the campaign fell upon the Kamber Group whose responsibility was to develop a Finance Committee of local business leaders. With $250,000 contributed by the Firefighters Union Local 1014, the Kamber Group raised an additional $450,000 in less than seven weeks from the Los Angeles area business leaders.

The Fire District consisted of 1.2 million voters, many of whom were not likely to vote in the June 3rd odd-year election. The key to success was our ability to correctly identify and target "high" and "super high propensity" voters. Since voter turnout was expected to be less than 15 percent, accurate targeting and the creation of a truly active voter universe was critical to our success. County officials estimated that no more than 20 percent of the vote would be absentee.

Using our in-house VoteTech system, we designed a direct mail campaign to inform voters what was at stake and to persuade them that the closure of neighborhood fire stations would cause life-threatening delays in emergency response times.

In developing the message, we had to walk a fine line in presenting a legitimate public safety message without being accused of trying to scare voters. Also, our task was to remind voters they were already paying a fire assessment and that Prop E was simply "replacement" funding.

A major component of the campaign was an aggressive direct mail absentee voter program that went beyond the normal boundaries of absentee targeting. We created a voter file of likely absentee voters and of those likely to vote on election day. This database included high-propensity voters that had never voted absentee. Our plan was to give these voters an opportunity - and the motivation - to vote absentee.

To be successful in identifying those favorable to the "Yes on Prop E" message and willing to vote absentee, our absentee ballot application had to arrive prior to the county's absentee ballot application.

Those responding to the absentee ballot application were given special status in the file and monitored closely throughout the rest of the campaign. A series of letters and mailers were sent to encourage recipients to send their absentee ballot requests back to the campaign. A phone bank was in continuous contact with potential absentee voters right up to the application deadline.

A tri-fold, laser printed absentee ballot featured a picture of a fire station and was personally addressed to each voter. The mailer contained two absentee ballot application forms. One was laser pre-printed with the voter's information and only required a signature. The other was blank and targeted to voters in the household who were not in the high-propensity group.

When the postage-paid absentee application was returned to the campaign, the applicant was immediately processed through our VoteTech system that interfaced with county voter information. A special computer bar coding on each ballot application expedited the nightly processing of the thousands of applications that came pouring in. The bar coding allowed us to quickly and orderly process the absentee applications and turn them over to the County Registrar of Voters within the legally required time limit of 36 hours.

We also generated personalized mailers instructing the recipients on how to fill out the absentee ballot and reminding them of the mailing deadline. A tracking phone bank and our VoteTech system were continuously interfacing with the County Registrar of Voters for updates on which voters had mailed in their absentee ballots.

On election day, anyone who had received a ballot but failed to mail it in, was contacted by our get-out-the-vote phone bank. The voter was instructed on how to vote in person at the polls.

While we were implementing our absentee ballot program, the County of Los Angeles was sending out its absentee applications.

Those who had received a county absentee application were contacted and identified as either a potential supporter or an opponent. Mailers were sent to this select group of absentee voters in addition to being contacted by a special telephone bank.

Winning an overwhelmingly majority of the voters who returned the county's absentee applications was essential if we were to achieve a two-thirds yes vote.

We targeted direct mail that delivered different messages to various constituencies. Men, women, Republicans, Democrats, seniors and homeowners were all receiving tailored messages on the importance of Prop E.

Heading into the last weekend of the campaign, 25,000 people had not mailed in their absentee ballots. We then unleashed a two-prong attack on these voters.

All those who mailed their applications into the campaign were called and reminded they had to mail in their ballots before election day. Those who mailed their absentee ballot application directly to the County were contacted by a phone bank which stressed that a yes vote was a vote to keep their neighborhood fire station open.

Our aggressive absentee, mail and telephone chase program netted the "Yes on E" campaign over 26,000 absentee ballot requests. This represented almost half of the 57,043 absentee ballots that were cast in the election.

Our efforts had a profound impact on absentee voter turnout. Despite earlier predictions, the absentee voter turnout was a whopping 29.6 percent. And, of those who voted absentee, 78.4 percent voted yes. That percentage was higher than the 76.9 percent who voted yes at the polls.

The result of these efforts was a 77.3 percent total yes vote.

Applying modern computer technology and voter analysis with traditional direct mail and telephone techniques can enhance the turnout of absentee voters in almost any campaign. And, in a tight race or one that requires two-thirds voter approval, this combination of direct voter contact is essential to achieve victory.

Next time your campaign has to put out a major fire, you may discover that the best tool can be found in a mailbox. It's called an absentee ballot.

Robert Kaplan is a political consultant with The Kamber Group and is based in California.

COPYRIGHT 1997 Campaigns & Elections, Inc.
COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group