A Tale of Two Cities: Transportation Campaign Lessons from Atlanta and Los Angeles
September 24, 2012
Massachusetts is not the only state facing a transportation finance crisis. Across the country, states, cities and regions have been grappling with how to pay for transit, roads and bridges. One of the most popular and successful options has been the ballot initiative: letting voters decide whether to increase their own taxes to pay for transportation. According to the Center for Transportation Excellence, 33 of 37 such votes have been successful this year so far. This past week ABC hosted leaders from two cities who made news for their transportation ballot initiatives, to share lessons learned with Massachusetts business leaders. Dave Williams from the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce briefed us on Georgia’s July 2012 regional ballot initiative, which was defeated in 9 of 12 districts across the state. And Denny Zane of the Move LA transportation coalition told us about Measure R, a half-cent sales tax increase that Los Angeles County passed in 2008. (Thanks to the Conservation Law Foundation and the Barr Foundation for organizing and sponsoring, respectively.) The differences between the two cases were instructive. Los Angeles capitalized on record voter turnout in the presidential election of 2008, while Atlanta swam against a tea party tide in during summer primary with no other races on the ballot. And of course, southern California is naturally more liberal than Georgia. Still, there were specific differences that could inform a similar effort in Massachusetts. In Georgia, for example, the details of the vote – the timing, even the language of the ballot measure – were determined by the state legislature. The campaign had to play the hand it was dealt. In LA, by contract, the campaign had an active role in crafting the ballot initiative and bringing it to the voters. Simplicity is also important. In Georgia, there were 157 projects up for consideration across all the regions. In Los Angeles, the entire country was asked to consider 12 major transit projects and 16 highways projects, making it easier to communicate a clear vision for the entire region. Public trust that the money will be well-spent is key, as is the reputation of the local transit agency. Despite losing, there was much that Atlanta did right. They assembled a very broad coalition and actively engaged the business community. One particular innovation we learned about was the use of SharePoint to communicate information from companies’ human resource and external affairs department to employees. They also raised an impressive amount of money from major businesses -- more than Los Angeles, even. They invested in polling and had a robust media budget. Dave told us they modeled their spending on what would be done for a gubernatorial or senate race in Georgia. To be clear, right now no one is proposing a ballot initiative of this kind in Massachusetts. We do not have a history of such referenda, and there is some question whether such a vote would even be constitutional here. Still, any effort to raise money for transportation, either through the legislature or at the polls, will require coalition-building and smart strategy and messaging. We’re grateful to Dave and Denny for coming to Boston to share their wisdom on these matters. Last week’s events were the first of a series of talks on transportation campaigns, being sponsored by the Barr Foundation. This Friday, September 28, Barr is hosting speakers from St. Louis, as well as the organizers of the successful campaign in Massachusetts for health care reform. Next Friday, October 5, they will be hosting representatives from New York and Kansas to talk about their campaigns. Both sessions at 10am at the UMass club downtown and are open to the public; click here to RSVP.
