Transportation tax campaign team, pollster selected
Prepare to be bombarded with cutesy ads, phone calls and God knows what else
Let the propaganda commence!
Ariel Hart reports that a group of business and civic organizations crossing their fingers for the one-cent sales tax measure’s passage has hired Glenn Totten, a Virginia-based consultant who decades ago convinced Georgians to approve the lottery, to help push what’s expected to be a $6 million campaign.
Also hired:
Paul Bennecke, a consultant who had leadership roles in the Republican Governors Association, the Georgia Republican Party and the 2002 gubernatorial campaign for Sonny Perdue. Auburn-based David B. Hill will provide polling and research.
Hart notes that some tea party groups plan to mount opposition to the measure, which is expected to generate approximately $8 billion over a decade for new road, transit and bridge projects in the metro Atlanta area. Elected officials are expected to begin fine-tuning the list of projects this summer. (Here’s an interactive map of all the proposed projects.) Metro Atlanta voters will give the final up or down vote next August at the ballot box.
It’s important to note that Totten’s team has experience with transportation tax referendums. Maria Saporta says the consultant’s campaigns have helped pass measures in Phoenix, St. Louis and Minnesota. You can view some of the firm’s work here and on its YouTube channel.
Our suggestion: Hire local street characters to pitch the concept. Or just offer a realistic perspective: People sitting in their cars, listening to Neal Boortz, eating McFlurries. And weeping. Softly.