By RON SOBLE
Express Staff Writer
Predicting the outcome of bond issues—in any community on any
issue—is a tricky business at best. Clearing the required two-thirds approval hurdle
is a difficult chore even for sophisticated election consultants.
Some states already have lowered the two-thirds margin—largely
linked to the fact that bond measures trigger property tax increases—but Idaho
isn’t one of them.
Even Mary Austin Crofts, Blaine County’s recreation director,
who’s been campaigning relentlessly for the Community Recreation Bond, is unsure of
the outcome.
"If people understand what it’s all about, they’ll
support it," she said in a conversation this week.
By election day, the district will have spent about $10,000 in support
of the bond effort, cash generated by a fund-raiser. The first few thousand dollars
underwrote a professional telephone poll in September that, presumably, helped define
issues that might put the $11.85 million measure over the top—such as the
community’s commitment to its youth. Another $4,000 was paid to Ketchum-based Lucas
Marketing Group to provide information support, including voter registration lists, for
volunteers working telephone banks. More campaign dollars were tagged for radio spots and
newspaper advertising.
Meanwhile, volunteers have been pounding the pavement, knocking on
doors and handing out pamphlets in an effort to sell the bond issue to the county’s
almost 9,800 voters.
Chris Potters, a member of the Ketchum City Council and one of the
door-to-door volunteers, said she eschews a hard sell approach. "I just think
it’s presumptuous," she said. [The voters] will look into their heart of
hearts."
Maybe.
Although the number of "no-on-the-bond" letters to the Idaho
Mountain Express haven’t been as numerous as those written by bond advocates,
opponents nevertheless have been vociferous in urging the measure’s defeat. Their
arguments range from opposition to a property tax increase to a perception that the bond
package is full of "frills."
Separately, but importantly, there are city council seats to decide on
this Tuesday’s ballot. Voters can pick up some quick knowledge on the
candidates—and the bond issue—by reviewing this newspaper’s special
election package, beginning on Page A22.
Whatever your preferences on the candidates and the bond, it’s
important that you vote. Blaine County’s future is in your hands.
