Mt. Hood bond effort will need money, student help

Now that Mt. Hood’s board of directors has decided to put a $125 million general obligation bond measure on the May 17 primary election ballot, it will be up to a political professional – and the efforts of MHCC students, she says – to find the winning votes.

Paige Richardson, a co-founder of political consulting group Springwater Partners who has been hired by MHCC to lead its bond campaign, has shared some of her strategies for the bond measure campaign.

It will be a tight deadline – mail ballots go out to east Portland and Multnomah County voters in just over 13 weeks. The short timeframe is one reason Mt. Hood board member Michael Calcagno voted “no” on the bond attempt (joined by board member George “Sonny” Yellott).

Richardson, Mt. Hood’s bond specialist, along with President Debbie Derr, said she believes May offers the college the best chance of winning, however. Waiting to place the measure on the November general election ballot would be a mistake, Richardson said.

Avoiding the ‘SmackDown’

Mt. Hood’s bond could get lost in the “noise” and attention hogged by the U.S. president and Oregon governor’s race, among other things.

“It’s WWE, but like the Grand SmackDown, where everyone is coming in” to the wrestling ring, Richardson said. In November, by the time voters “move down a long ballot to a small little measure” – Mt. Hood’s bond measure – “their heads are going to want to explode,” she said.

Getting enough “yes” votes to pass the first MHCC bond measure since 1974 will take money for advertising and outreach, but also considerable effort by those attached to the college, Richardson said.

A key will be if Mt. Hood’s Political Action Committee (the Friends of Mt. Hood Community College PAC) can raise enough money to spread bond supporters’ message to voters in time.

“If they can raise the dollars to do that, we have a really good shot,” said Richardson.

That fundraising goal hasn’t been declared by anyone, yet. Through Wednesday, the ‘Friends’ PAC had raised a total $58,000 since it formally filed with the state of Oregon – including $50,000 contributed by the Mt. Hood Foundation. The PAC had about $31,500 in cash on hand.

Several thousand dollars have already gone into research and polls that Richardson has gathered to apply to the campaign. She said that entails figuring out how many voters the college has to talk to in order to be successful, and then how many times the college needs to communicate with them to solidify their vote in favor of the bond.

Using student stories

At last week’s board meeting, before the members voted 5-2 to pursue the May vote, Richardson unveiled her plan for achieve this, stating that she would be focusing on the undecided and “yes” voters, instead of trying to sway the voters who have already indicated they would vote “no.”

She told the board approximately 46 percent of potential voters surveyed said they were likely “yes” voters on the bond; another 15 percent were undecided.

The key to a bond measure passing is to connect with those 15 percent, she said.

Richardson plans a story project that is just student and alumni stories about why Mt. Hood is/has been such a great place to them.

“Everybody is being transformed all the time; to tell those stories is the best way to talk to folks (voters),” she explained.

Richardson said she plans to get the word out through social media and paid media, such as newspapers, TV, and radio advertisements.

Social media, and the web in general, will be a main focus.

“Most every student has a connected device. Whatever media platform they are on, we (the bond campaign) will be on,” she said.

Counting on millennials

Richardson aims to use the student/alumni stories on social media for storytelling, “and then we’ll use those (stories) in the paid media … because that stuff is real.”

Derr said she agrees with making younger voters a priority.

“The lowest voter turnout (population) are millennials, and yet our millennial students will be able to see the greatest benefit with the passage of this GO bond,” Derr said.

Since it has been so long since Mt. Hood has gotten a bond measure passed – several attempts have failed in the past four decades – Richardson’s idea is that the community will be very receptive to the idea, this time around. Especially when the bond campaign gets to talking about the benefits for the MHCC community, she said.

As currently outlined in the bond proposal, Mt. Hood would build a new Workforce and Applied Technology Center on the Gresham campus; would completely rebuild the Maywood Park satellite campus; would pay off millions of dollars of current debt; and would look to upgrade the Gresham campus’ safety, security, and infrastructure, including improving accessibility for students, staff, and community members who have disabilities.

To Derr and Richardson, the bond effort is mostly about sharing the news.

That’s where the needed money to drive the campaign is important.

Fred Sanchez, an east Portland real estate business owner and a leader of the MHCC PAC, expressed strong support for the cause at last week’s board meeting.

“I promise you, that I and our committee, will do everything in our power to spread the word and get an overwhelming ‘Yes’ from the electorate,” Sanchez told members.

The bond PAC has launched a new website to promote the bond measure. For more information, visit: FriendsofMHCC.org.