July Update

I attended the Fifth Ward City Council candidate debate last night between Scott Rosencrans and incumbent Mike Anglin. The event was well-attended, and Fifth Warders asked some great questions of both candidates. 

This First Ward resident asked the candidates if they supported the GO Ask Voters Charter amendment. Scott Rosencrans replied that he hadn’t studied the question, and didn’t know much about it. Mike Anglin replied that he was in favor of voter education and so, supported GO Ask Voters because it would require our city to educate voters about projects that required financing through bond issuances.

I sent Scott Rosencrans an email this morning with a link to the GO Ask Voters web site. 

The signature gathering goes very well. We have about 3,000 signatures thus far. June was a great month for the garden (rainy), but not so great for circulating petitions. Despite the rain, GOAV volunteers managed to get out into their neighborhoods and talk to their neighbors. We will, without a doubt, reach our goal of 5,800 signatures.

May 14th is Coming Right Up

I’ve been out collecting signatures, as have the other dozens of volunteers working for GO Ask Voters. Based on my own experience, and comments from those collecting signatures, registered voters in Ann Arbor are pleased to learn more about GO Ask Voters, and to sign the petition. There is strong support for the drive to move Ann Arbor forward toward voting on the proposed Charter amendment.

The First Goal: 1,500 Signatures.

Tonight’s event for petition signature collectors at Sweetwater’s Cafe was fun. I want to thank everyone who took time to come. We met for a little under an hour. There was a short training and we handed out materials. Our volunteer signature collectors left with a simple task:

Each volunteer will fill just four petition signature sheets between now and May 14th.

Meeting that goal will net GO Ask Voters a whopping 1,500 signatures in three weeks. (We need to gather 5,322 signatures total from registered voters in Ann Arbor.) Of course, there are even more volunteers who couldn’t attend tonight’s meeting, and who will get materials and Ward walking routes over the course of the next week.

As always, if you’re a registered voter in Ann Arbor, and you’d like someone to come to your house so you can sign the petition, please let me know. We’ll send someone right to your door! If you’d like to circulate a petition among your neighbors, please click here. This is a non-partisan effort, and we have volunteers from every Ward and every political persuasion. We’d gladly welcome your participation.

Finally, look for GO Ask Voters petition circulators at the upcoming Leslie Science Center Earth Day Celebration!

April 22nd Petition Circulator Kick-Off Event

On April 22nd from 7-8 p.m. we’ll be hosting a Petition Circulator event. We’ll be meeting at Sweetwater’s Cafe on Plymouth Rd. All who are interested in circulating petitions are welcome to attend. Here’s a copy of the email invitation I sent out:

Hi,

I’m writing to invite you to circulate petitions for GO Ask Voters. Before I get down to details, I have some great news to share. The GOAV petition and petition language were vetted by both the Ann Arbor City Attorney, as well as the Michigan Attorney General’s Office. Both offices did so as a courtesy, and I’m pleased to tell you that the petition and the language passed with flying colors. We were not asked to make any changes in the petition or the petition language. We asked for this informal review to make sure that the petition format (some aspects of which are mandated by state statute) and language would be acceptable to the Ann Arbor City Clerk when submitted.

As a result, we will begin the process of collecting signatures from registered voters in Ann Arbor this week. To do this, we need YOUR help!! Can you collect 60 signatures total?

If most of our signature collectors can meet this simple goal, in November Ann Arbor voters will have an opportunity to decide whether to amend the City Charter to require voter authorization of GO Municipal Bonds. If you can collect more than 60 signatures, wonderful. If you can collect fewer, no worries. This is a drive to collect one signature at a time, and every signature from a registered voter in Ann Arbor counts.

MARK YOUR CALENDAR: PETITION CIRCULATOR KICK-OFF MEETING, April 22nd

We are having a meeting on Wednesday April 22nd from 7-8 p.m. at Sweetwater’s Cafe (3393 Plymouth Road), in the Plymouth Green Crossings mall, near U of M North Campus. There, we will do a short training, distribute petitions, clipboards and answer your questions. If you want to circulate petitions, but can’t come to meeting, email me and I’ll make sure you get your materials this weekend. 

MARK YOUR CALENDAR: PETITION SHEET TURN-IN HAPPY HOUR, May 14th

We’ll have Petition Circulators Happy Hour every other week beginning Thursday, May 14th at 6 p.m. At these Happy Hours, you can turn in your signed sheets, find out how the drive is going, have a drink and chat with other GOAV supporters.

Best wishes,

Patricia Lesko

for GO Ask Voters

Petition & Petition Language Get Two Thumbs Up

Media Contact:

Patricia Lesko

PDLesko@GOAskVoters.org

 *For Immediate Release*

 

GO Ask Voters Announces Approval of Petition and Petition Language by Ann Arbor City Attorney and State Attorney General’s Office.

Ann Arbor, Michigan, April 20, 2009—On March 30, 2009, GO Ask Voters, a group of neighborhood activists from all five of Ann Arbor’s Wards, announced a drive to amend the city’s Charter to require voter authorization of GO municipal bonds. The nonpartisan group has 365 days to collect signatures from five percent of the city’s registered voters (approximately 5,400 voters).

GO Ask Voters is pleased to announce that the group’s petition language and petition format have been informally vetted and approved by officials from the Ann Arbor City Attorney’s Office, as well as officials from the office of Michigan State Attorney General. The examination of the petition and the language was done as a courtesy. This preliminary approval of the petition format and language should not be interpreted to mean that officials from either the City Attorney’s Office or the State Attorney General’s Office support or are involved with the GO Ask Voters drive to amend Ann Arbor’s City Charter.

The petition and petition language were submitted to the Ann Arbor Attorney’s office on behalf of GO Ask Voters in an effort to make certain that the format of the petition (many aspects of which are mandated by state statute) and language would be acceptable to the Ann Arbor City Clerk, when submitted. It was the Ann Arbor City Attorney’s office that, in turn, elected to send along the petition language to the Office of the State Attorney General.

We’re Revving Up….

To put our proposed Charter amendment to a vote, we need to gather signatures from five percent of Ann Arbor’s registered voters (approximately 5,800 signatures). We have plenty of time (365 days) and there’s plenty of enthusiasm! Whether you think you can gather 15 signatures from your neighbors or 150, we need your help.  

On Wednesday April 22nd, those interested in circulating petitions  to gather signatures for the GO Ask Voters signature drive will meet. Might you be interested in gathering signatures? If so, please send along an email. 

Stay tuned for further details!

April 5th Fundraiser

The food was great, the company was better. About 40 people showed up on a rainy evening to eat, drink, and learn more about the GO Ask Voters petition drive. I want to share the short speech I gave:

Good evening, and thanks very much for braving the weather to come and spend some time learning about GO Ask Voters. I want to thank Lou Glorie for organizing tonight’s event and, of course, all of you for joining us here at Vinology. To begin, I’m going to stick out my neck and make an assumption about the group gathered together here this evening. I am going to say that most, if not al of you, would not mind being referred to as a “community activist.” My guess is that you care deeply about your neighborhood, neighbors and the city. Well, let me tell you a story.

When we sent out the press releases to journalists about GO Ask Voters, we asked those whom we’d sent information to refrain from publishing anything until after our March 30th press conference. One journalist whom I spoke with laughed and said, “Not publish the press release? What?!? We don’t embargo a press release unless it’s from the University of Michigan, and they’ve developed some new form of brain surgery or something! I can’t do that. GO Ask Voters is just a citizen group!”

I didn’t say anything, and for the record they ended up respecting our request. However, later, I thought about that comment: “You’re just a citizen group!” Just a bunch of community organizers, community activists, just a citizen group. Well, for those here old enough to remember, Thomas Jefferson was just a community activist, as were John Adams and George Washington. Those guys who tossed all that tea into Boston Harbor? They were just a citizen group!

If there’s one thing I know, in this great country of ours the halls of power are not the ones our elected officials walk down in our government buildings. They’re the halls in our houses and apartments, the halls we walk down every single day. I think this because I know that in our country there is no social wrong that can’t be righted by citizen groups, community organizers and community activists. I know there is no sweeping political change that can’t be enacted when citizen groups, community organizers and community activists decide to make it so. This is why I’m so very proud to be part of just a citizen group.

The change GO Ask Voters seeks to make in our Charter is a simple one. GO Ask Voters is exactly what the name suggests. Before our elected officials issue bonds repaid through direct taxation, they will GO Ask Voters first. This is a historic Charter amendment, and the eyes of our eight million neighbors throughout the state will be on us. But the truth is Ann Arbor is used to the attention. We have led the way politically in our state for decades. This amendment will join the long list of social, environmental and political firsts of which Ann Arbor voters and elected officials are so very proud.

And so, this citizen group, all of us here tonight, will have 365 days to gather signatures from 5 percent of the registered voters in Ann Arbor in order to have the proposed amendment put to a vote. We hope to gather the signatures by early August, so that voters can decide this coming November. We’ll have a meeting for those who’ve volunteered to circulate petitions on April 22nd from 7-8 p.m. 

In the meantime, thank you again for coming tonight, for your support, enthusiasm and, of course, your kind donations. Over the next few months, we’ll make history and show what just a citizen group, what just community activists, what just community organizers can accomplish in a city and country like ours. 

Blogging, Facebook, Twitter & GO Ask Voters

Up to this point, I have resisted the urge to use Facebook either personally or for work. However, GO Ask Voters now has its own Facebook page. Our group even has some new Facebook friends! To check out the GO Ask Voters Facebook page (and maybe even become a friend), click here. I’ve posted events, discussion topics, and will post photos from the GOAV fundraiser and petition signing kickoff cocktail party at Vinology on April 5th. I’ll post regular updates on the petition drive, as well as information about future GOAV events and gatherings. 

I’ve also started a Twitter account. To follow GO Ask Voters on Twitter, click here. Postings, or tweets as they’re referred to, are short and to the point. 

Between this blog, Facebook and Twitter, there are plenty of opportunities for those interested in keeping up to date with this drive. 

When you’re wondering how many signatures we’ve gathered, what neighborhoods we’re planning to visit, want to sign the petition and wonder where the GOAV petition signing hotspot is in your Ward on any given weekend during April, May, June and July, check Facebook, this blog and/or Twitter. 

In the meantime, we look forward to knocking on your door and hearing your thoughts about this proposed Charter amendment. We hope you’ll agree with us that this proposed amendment to Ann Arbor’s Charter will make our city a state-wide leader in voting rights, further progressive political policy and foster grassroots political activism!

Voting on GO Bonds, Oh My!

“Voters can’t possibly be well enough informed to be able to vote on GO municipal bonds.”

Of course we can. In fact, Ann Arbor voters authorize funding requests from our city and School District on a regular basis. In May 2008, for example, we were asked to vote on not one but three millage renewals. 

In case you missed it, here’s the web page school officials prepared to educate Ann Arbor voters. 

In 2006, city officials asked voters to approve a park maintenance and capital improvement funding request. Here’s a link to the great voter education documents prepared by city officials.

Of course voters can be well enough informed to decide GO bond requests. That’s been proven over and again year after year. The real question, then, is whether, as a voter, you’d like to decide where, how, when and for which municipal projects our property tax dollars are used. As a voter, do you favor fiscal transparency on the part of government, and do you want to be engaged early and often about municipal projects funded with bonds paid with your tax dollars?

This proposed Charter amendment is not about representative government, City Council or even the city budget. It’s about extending our right to vote by adding GO municipal bonds to the long list of funding requests voters already decide in our City.

Andrew Cluely Definitely Has a Clue About GOAV

I am a creative writer by training and a journalist and publisher by trade. Normally, I’m the one asking the questions, and I enjoy that part of my job immensely. I suppose by nature I’m curious. I’ve chosen to be the spokesperson for GO Ask Voters. That means I’ll answer the questions of journalists over the next few months, as well as questions from neighborhood groups, and individuals. It’s my job to make sure we get our message out to as many people as people through a comprehensive communications strategy. That’s a fancy way of saying, I’ll spend my time making sure that what we do becomes part of the local news cycle on a regular basis. 

Andrew Cluely works for WEMU. Yesterday, the radio station ran Andrew’s piece about the GO Ask Voters petition drive. Click here to listen, if you didn’t hear it over the course of the day yesterday. Cluely’s coverage was spot on. Our community is very lucky to have a journalist like Andrew doing the job he does; let’s hope we get to enjoy his radio work for  while longer before he gets snapped up by a public radio station in a larger market.