Friday, June 15, 2012
Bond Ethics - FAQ's, Part 2
Continuing the discussion regarding ethics in bond issues, here are three more 'Q and A's';
Question 4- A member of the "Invest in Education" Political Action Committee (PAC) would like to place a flyer in the teacher mailboxes advocating the passage of the upcoming bond election. The PAC would send a volunteer to the District to place the flyers into the mailboxes so that no employee time would be used to hand out the flyers. Is this allowed?
Answer 4 - No, see Ethics Advisory Opinion #45. Advocacy literature produced by proponents or opponents cannot be distributed or available on property owned by the political subdivision, even if equal access is allowed to both sides.
Question 5 - The District is about to call a bond election and a member of the planning committee suggests structuring early voting locations to coordinate with school events. For example, he would like to see early voting at the football stadium right before the big game. Is this allowed?
Answer 5 - Early voting or Motor Voting, must be held in a permanent structure located within the boundaries of the District. So if the hope was to have a voting place in a portable bldg set up at the football game, this is not allowed. The decision for early voting locations is truly a personal/political call for the District to make. Some people may view these locations as contrived. Others may view it as giving the community a more convenient voting location.
Question 6 - A couple of Board Members have approached you about placing 'vote yes' yard signs printed by the Political Action Committee in their yards. They would also like to give pro-bond presentations at some local organizations which they are involved in. What should you tell them?
Answer 6 - It is perfectly legal for Board Members to get involved in the campaign as long as they are not using political advertising that they produced using District materials or resources. Board members are elected officials and not paid members of the District and are usually expected to be political figures in the community. In this case, the Board members were using materials produced by the Political Action Committee.
Question 6 probably raises more questions than just the facts that I have stated. Public perception comes into play here. You would be wise to evaluate your own community and how they would view this situation. The truth is that Board members are community members and can advocate for the passage of the bond or the defeat of the bond as is sometimes the case. I will say if the latter is the case, the chances of you passing your bond issue is greatly diminished if all the board members are not for the passage.
Michael King AIA
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Question #5 – Even though it’s not possible to hold early voting at such an event, it is sad that in such an important election you have to be creative in order to get voters to turn out for it.
ReplyDeleteQuestion #6 - I think that if any of the leaders should get involved in a bond election it is the Board. As you point out - they are elected officials and they are the ones ultimately responsible for "steering the ship" of the district. If the public does not hear from them on this issue, I would assert that they are shirking their responsibility as board members. As a member of the voting public, if there was a bond issue on the ballot and board members were silent on the issue, I would assume that they did not care if the issue passed or not, which would make me question why is it on the ballot in the first place. Jerry Racioppi - Tarleton State University
ReplyDeleteQuestion #4 To me the teachers need to be informed about voting for a bond election, not to push voting one way or another but to express their opinion. I think this would show how dedicated the PAC member was in order to get votes from the teachers.
ReplyDeleteQuestions #6 - AS members of the community, School Board members should be involved in both informing the community about and in personally voting for bond issues. One would expect Board members to be well informed about the needs of the district and to play an active role in the bond passage process. Question #4 - I agree that distrubution of flyers to teachers is inappropriate. Allowing one side to distribute material implies that the district supports one side of the issue.
ReplyDelete- Elizabeth Garcia, Tarleton State University
Question #6: I was interested to see the answer on this one. It makes sense that they can have signs in their own yards, but I liked the mention of considering your community. Given the fact that the board member(s) support(s) the bond, one would hope the community at large would follow suit, but I would wonder if the community agreed or not. It could be political suicide to post a "yes to bond" sign in your yard knowing the community disagreed. I would do it, but I'm not sure everyone would if they wanted to be reelected someday.
ReplyDeleteMichelle Schwalls
Tarelton State University
In regard to Question #6, I would expect board members to be in support of bonds as well as allowing "pro" signs to be placed in their yards. Not knowing how the system works, I would venture to guess that the board has played an active role in proposing the bond and outlining what it will be used for if passed. If the entire board is not in agreeance with the bond, I would question the bond's legitimacy and whether our community really needed the bond to pass.
ReplyDeleteCAndrew - Tarleton State University
In regard to Question #6, I would expect the board to be in favor of the bond. Not knowing how the system works, I would guess that the board is instrumental or plays an active role in creating a bond and outlining what the proceeds will fund. If this is true, then a board member not in favor of the bond would send the message to the voting public that the bond was not legitimate nor was it needed. And in regard to question 4, I think that type of promotional activity would be considered redundant and ineffective. Teachers should be one of the most knowledgable groups about upcoming educational bonds. Pandering to them to them would be like watering your lawn when it's raining. The majority of that voting group should be in favor of the bond. Marketing efforts are intended to reach voters not familiar with ballot items, instead of those who are discussing the subject in depth at meetings and around the water cooler.
ReplyDeleteCAndrew - Tarleton State University
Interestingly, there are times when voter turnout for bond elections is relatively small. With that in mind, it is essential that teachers who are eligible voters (living within district boundaries) get to the poles. If the message has been communicated effectively over the course of time, a district should be able to count on their teachers' votes to carry a bond election in a positive direction. Hopefully, information sessions provided to faculty members would make a compelling case to any public educator of the importance of the issue at hand.
ReplyDeleteA. Stewart - TSU
you are correct, the teachers should be the ones to carry the vote, especially in smaller communities. They will be the ones to see the direct benefits. However, we have found through exit poles and surveys that teachers can be the least likely to vote in a bond election. Many assume that the bond will pass, but whatever the reason, it takes a concerted effort to get not only the teachers to vote, but parents. The majority of the voters are senior citizens.
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