Hi All. Yes, it was disappointing, but a heartfelt thanks to Starchild, Jawj, and Marcy for giving it our all this time around. We've been lucky in recent years, but I guess our luck ran out yesterday. They did have a new "streamlined" procedure at the Dept. of Elections which didn't seem to work that well, but as Starchild noted the new manager there gave everyone equally a hard time if their paperwork wasn't in order. Interesting that the group right next to us was already submitting their rebuttal arguments yesterday before all the arguments were in, but we've seen this happen before--so much for intellectual honesty. No wonder the rebuttal arguments in the Voters Handbook are often just a rehash of what they wrote in the proponent's argument.
OK, on to Plan B. We discussed this briefly in last week's meeting. We should try to submit at least one, maybe two paid arguments on Monday morning. Our cash position is stable and can withstand one paid argument from our coffers, and if we can scrape up enough, we should submit two. At least the cost has not changed over the years since we last submitted a paid argument: 100 words will cost $400, 150 words will cost $500, and 200 words will cost $600. We can squeeze out a pithy argument from the great arguments that we already have.
Since late afternoon yesterday when it became apparent that we didn't win the lottery, I've been thinking about which would be the best measures to submit on. We have to consider not only the worst statist measures, but also the likelihood of our arguments being read if they're stuck in the back of the measure in pages of paid arguments. Our best bang for our limited bucks is a measure or two with not much opposition. They would seem to exclude F (short-term rentals) and I (Mission moratorium), since those measures are likely to have lots of arguments on both sides. (On the other hand, passage of each of those measures is iffy, so perhaps our opposition could help to defeat them.) Looking at the bad measures with less opposition, that leaves A (housing bond), B (unpaid leave), J (legacy businesses), and K (surplus land). J is particularly disgusting, so I favor that one, and A comes in a close second. B will pass no matter what we say since the voters will not want to be anti-children or anti-parents. K is complicated and the policy of providing housing for the homeless has already been in place for years and unlikely to go away in this statist environment.
Marcy, if you can please put out a call for donations for paid arguments on the Announce List, that would be great. I will check the mailbox tomorrow for checks since I already mentioned Plan B in the newsletter last month. However, there were none when I checked two weeks ago, so most likely that will yield nothing tomorrow. I'll put up the first $50 for two paid pithy ballot measure arguments.
Please advise your thoughts on submitting paid arguments and the priority of measures if we only submit one.
Thanks!Aubrey
It occurs to me that this would be a good opportunity to try a crowdfunding campaign -- seek donations on one or more sites like Indiegogo, Kickstarter, etc. We could offer to make anyone who contributes at least $X amount of money a co-signer. Plus, this will give our argument(s) more exposure since they'll be there for people to read. We could list several of them, and say that we'll print whichever one raises the most money.
Love & Liberty,
((( starchild )))
It occurs to me that this would be a good opportunity to try a crowdfunding campaign -- seek donations on one or more sites like Indiegogo, Kickstarter, etc. We could offer to make anyone who contributes at least $X amount of money a co-signer. Plus, this will give our argument(s) more exposure since they'll be there for people to read. We could list several of them, and say that we'll print whichever one raises the most money.
Love & Liberty,
((( starchild )))