Civic engagement at it's best!!
Crossposted at ONE Massachusetts
Homegrown campaigns often work if a lightening-rod issue is on the ballot, but when the issues are more mundane, it isn’t so easy, particularly when voters are working long hours or are newcomers to politics. An alternative, at least on one end of the ideological spectrum, is One Massachusetts, which provides free training sessions for groups organizing Proposition 2 1/2 override campaigns.The year-old, Boston–based nonprofit was spun off from the Public Policy Institute, a liberal group that promotes community activism.
Colleen Corona, a member of the leadership team at One Massachusetts and chairman of the board of selectmen in Easton, remembers the “Eureka!” moment she had in 2006, when receiving invaluable tips from a campaign manager working for an elected official. At the time, Corona was organizing a Proposition 2 1/2 override campaign in her hometown. “The information got us going, and without it we could not have run our campaign,” she says. “I realized that I wanted to help other struggling campaigns in any way I could.”
Colleen's picture was not featured in the Commonwealth Magazine article. This photo was taken of Colleen training local advocates on municipal budgets at the ONE Massachusetts Statewide Proposition 2 1/2 Convening in Boxboro on May 31, 2008.
I had the opportunity to attend the Proposition 2 1/2 Convening pictured in this post. The trainers – including Colleen Corona and my colleagues at ONE Massachusetts – did an amazing job training local Prop 2 1/2 advocates from across the state on Municipal Budgets, State Budgets, and Communicating About the Value of Government (our Public Structures).
The most amazing part for me, though, was seeing participants really connecting with activists from other communities – Colleen included – around an issue which has traditionally developed as a long series of very isolated and lonely battles… a list that seems to be getting longer every year.
I was witness to a dynamic exchange of information from communities of all shapes and sizes, with experience in equally diverse campaigns: What are the advantages of stealth versus media? How much volunteer time and funding needs to go into a truly effective database, and what do you do with that information once you have it? What are residents in different towns looking for in their communities, and what are they willing to pay for it?
Most, if not all, of the answers to these questions were provided – and actively debated – by the participants, and I felt lucky to learn more about our state from the people fighting to keep it healthy, safe, and vibrant!