SCHOOL BOARD GIVEN BALLOT-ISSUES ADVICE

If Cape Girardeau schools want to win a ballot issue, the school board must present a proposal voters want, says Don Bemis.

Bemis, a former school superintendent in Detroit, works for A.G. Edwards, an investment firm with offices in Cape Girardeau. Bemis helps school districts get ballot issues passed.

He met Monday with Cape Girardeau's Board of Education for a study session.

"There is only one reason to have an election, and that's to win," Bemis said.

He said elections are won or lost long before the first day of a campaign. Success is based on the work done planning for a ballot issue.

Cape Girardeau has lost three ballot issues since 1993. The board is considering an election proposal concerning school buildings.

Bemis said the school board needs to learn about the community as it starts planning for another ballot issue.

"Everyone says they know this community," he said. "But for the school board, that probably means they know the people in the Rotary Club or the Lions Club. I know the people I associate with."

He said board members may be unfamiliar with whole segments of the population.

The school board must also gauge what the community thinks of the board, the administration and the staff.

"Often we go to the public when we want something," Bemis said. "We need to have these lines of communication all the time."

Bemis also said it was important that the school board maintain a level of credibility and confidence with the people of the community.

"You build that by doing what you say you're going to do," he said. "If the credibility doesn't exist, you better work on it and not try to do too much else."

Bemis said research shows that the most credible person in the school system is the custodian, followed by the school secretary and then the bus driver.

Board President Ed Thompson said the first failed issue, which called for a 99-cent tax increase, was "probably too much."

Bemis said if the district needed a large project, the school board should have done a better job communicating that need.

"You have to be committed to a long process," he said.

The board discussed the Project Partnership reports that came before the first ballot issue. About 25 people served on the committee that reviewed facilities. Bemis said 25 people should have reviewed each building.

"It's much easier to do things very autocratic," Bemis said. "But the school districts that are successful are participatory."

Board member Lyle Davis said: "That $25 million need has not vanished. It has probably increased. We haven't done a very good job communicating the need."

Bemis suggested that Cape Girardeau start the process with focus groups to identify key issues, followed by a survey of voters on specific questions.

He said, "You have a tough story to tell because you are starting from ground zero."

A.G. Edwards offers a service to help establish the communication system that leads to planning for a bond election. "We provide you the system," he said. "We don't do it for you."