FEATURE ARTICLE                                                

"The partnership that we formed with the village of Gurnee to assist the park district in funding the six million dollars of debt to build the pool allowed us to structure the third referendum without any tax increase." —Chuck Balling, executive director of the Gurnee Park District

If you study the referenda results following each election, you'll find an interesting statistic: park agencies or other local governmental entities that continue to try to pass a referenda campaign eventually do get it passed. In fact, a majority of the referenda attempts eventually pass within three attempts. This does not mean that you can keep asking the same question three times in a row without making any changes in your strategy or what you're asking for. It does mean that after an unsuccessful referendum, agencies need to stay positive and evaluate. Oftentimes park district directors are interviewed the day after the referenda. By offering a positive statement that the park district will continue to provide patrons with quality services and that the district intends to listen to what the community is trying to tell them, goes a long way in paving the way for success the second time around.

Chuck Balling, executive director of the Gurnee Park District, encourages this "stay-positive focus." Balling says: "Don't burn your bridges, because often it may take a couple of times before you can pass a referendum." The Gurnee Park District had a question on the ballot in the November 2000 election asking the community for the third time to approve a new $6 million outdoor aquatic center. This time, they won. After the prior two losses, the park district evaluated what happened and made adjustments. Between the first and second attempts, the project size and total construction cost were reduced dramatically. Gurnee choose the most important components of the project from the community's perspective and geared the referendum request to these facilities in the second attempt. This gained them a higher percentage of "yes-votes." "The partnership that we formed with the village of Gurnee to assist the park district in funding the six million dollars of debt to build the pool allowed us to structure the third referendum without any tax increase," says Balling. "Through follow-up surveys, the community was telling us they couldn't afford one more tax increase. Over

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THE REFERENDUM STRATEGY GAME                                      

the last two years, Gurnee residents have funded approximately $150 million in new school projects."

He also credits the district's grass-roots political campaign headed by two residents as an important improvement to their campaign strategy.

Balling adds: "The campaign focused on building consensus and selling the benefits of the aquatic center."

Getting out to the people and campaigning door-to-door was also the key focus in Roselle Park District's second attempt to ask its residents for additional taxes for all corporate purposes. One of the "purposes" was to construct a new pool to replace its severely leaking and outdated existing pool. The park district assigned block captains to distribute materials and talk to neighbors door-to-door. They paid particular attention to "walking" key neighborhoods where they needed yes-votes.

While the referendum was not successful, the percentage of yes-votes increased with this change in strategy. Diane McCray, executive director of the Roselle Park District, was enthused by the positive motivational effect of walking door-to-door.

"You get to meet a lot of wonderful and impassioned people when working with the Friends of the Roselle Park District," says McCray.

For example, she worked with a former board member (1965) of the park district who, with his wife, gave freely of their time and made numerous speeches to a variety of groups.

"Working cohesively toward a common goal helped to motivate the staff and in turn the board members and, most importantly, the community," says McCray. "It is a growing circle."

The park board is considering whether it will take advantage of these results and return to the ballot again in April.

One interesting comment from a Roselle resident caused the park district to pay more attention to the communication of the actual ballot question. The resident commented: "I missed the pool question. Where was it? I voted no to the park district tax question but I wanted to vote yes to the pool."

Whether in restructuring the ballot question or through effective communication of how the question is written, the park district plans to make some changes to eliminate this confusion the next time around.

To "go" or "not go" on the ballot during a presidential campaign election is always a tricky question. Its critical to be aware of voter turnout for a particular election and to know what other entities are competing for voters' tax dollars. Although the conditions rarely will be perfect and oftentimes will not coincide with the project's timing, sometimes you just have to jump in there and give it your best effort. A good working relationship with other local governmental entities can assist districts in selecting an opportune time to pass a referendum.

In Wauconda, there were a total of four referenda questions on the ballot along with the presidential election this past November. The park district realized this but felt confident about its question regarding an outdoor aquatic center, because there would continue to be ballot questions from other local entities in future elections.

Wauconda's director. Nancy Burton, says: "About two thousand yes-votes were cast in November. We just needed a few more yes-votes to pass and do not feel that we lost by any means. We ended up with more yes-votes than originally anticipated due to the extremely high voter turnout."

The district has plans to go back in April 2001 and direct its efforts to making sure all its yes-voters get out to the polls.

Understanding unique obstacles to passing a referendum is valuable knowledge in altering campaign strategy. Burton feels that because Wauconda is a lake community with three to four neighborhood beaches on Bang Lake, the "sale" of an outdoor aquatic center was more challenging. The park district wants to more thoroughly communicate how an outdoor aquatic center will complement the district's aquatic offerings. Also, Wauconda Township residents are attune to hearing about an indoor pool facility versus an outdoor pool, so they have a set mindset that is challenging to alter.

The use of visual tools to assist districts in passing referenda that involve the design and construction of a facility can aid greatly. Districts should make use of attractively colored site plans, floor plans, exterior building perspective drawings and interior room vignettes to visually explain what the taxpayer will be getting with their yes-vote. Three-dimensional, scaled models of a park or facility prominently displayed in a variety of public locations goes a long way to generating interest and creating a picture of what is to come.

Ultimately, understanding your community is foremost in determining what they need, and how much the community is willing to bear in taxes. It boils down to a two-part question: Who wouldn't vote for new facilities if there were no cost to the individual? There would be nothing to lose and everything to gain. But don't go crazy. Sure, the entire development of a new park site with new recreation center, indoor and outdoor pool, ball fields and the like would be fabulous new amenities to bring to district users. Designing and building everything at once also affords economies in consultant fees and construction costs, but one has to acknowledge when the total price tag is beyond the pocketbook and palatable ceiling of the residents. It is a handy piece of information to know what the community's perceived ceiling on total project cost may be.

It's critical to be aware of voter turnout for a particular election and to know what other entities are competing for voters' tax dollars.

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FEATURE ARTICLE                                                

The advantage of pre-referendum planning is to have precise budget figures on the project's costs, which can then be translated into a specific funding method and subsequently the referendum ballot question and tax amount. Fully prepared districts are not only evaluating their project's construction cost but also considering the facility's operational costs, furnishings, etcetera. To open and run a facility, all costs need to be factored in. One should take care to ask for the right amount, no more, and certainly no less for a turnkey project.

What preparation is to planning, anticipating your competition is to success. It is a rare campaign that would have no naysayers. Thinking about how your opposition may attack you and planning for it is invaluable. One can often see opposing parties trying to discredit districts for their particular project solution and for the costs presented to the public. Districts should take care to weigh each of their options so when the opposition states "we think a new building is a better solution," districts can be ready with a response such as "we considered that option carefully and in our evaluation found that option to be less desirable for whatever reason."

Even with careful planning and complete information, a district may state that a facility can be built for a certain price and the opposition may run conflicting information on the project's expense. Be able to back up statistics and costs of construction in a fully informed manner and have actual records of similarly constructed facilities in the area. This background information can really take the wind out of the oppositions sail.

The community always likes to see attempts to join forces with other governmental agencies to enhance services and spread the cost. As you are working toward healing or strengthening relationships with your village or city, school and library districts, remember, they just may be wanting to assist in your venture, or willing to swap property or sell a no longer needed facility at a bargain price. With a healthy working relationship, you can brainstorm win-win outcomes for both entities and everyone benefits.

If you are new to planning and strategizing for a referendum campaign, do your research and make use of valuable existing sources. Peers at other districts and governmental agencies can offer their suggestions and samples of campaign literature. While every referendum campaign contains unique issues and challenges, there is a collective wealth of information that can be easily obtained and does not need to be newly created. And as stated at the beginning of this article, don't give up hope; most referenda requests that are perceived valuable by the community do eventually pass. •

CAROL A. SENTE
is the marketing and client relations principal for Sente & Rubel Architects of Northbrook, III. She can be reached at 847.272.9500 of cafofs@sente-rubel.com, www. sente-rubel.com.

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