Olympia’s Parks and Sidewalks Tax:Leaving Butt-Prints in the Sands of Time

Karen MessmerOlympia City Council

Jim LazarOlympia Safe Streets Campaign

Presented at:

Pro Walk / Pro Bike

Madison, Wisconsin

September, 2006

Get the Money!

First Law of Politics

Sidewalk Funding in Olympia

• How did this happen?– Inspiration

– Community commitment

– Developing the Plans

– Convincing the City Council to put the Parks and Sidewalks Tax to the voters

– Convincing the voters to support the measure.

Insert graphic of $50k rising to $1.2 million from 1990 to 2006.

City of Olympia Annual Sidewalk Funding

$0

$200,000

$400,000

$600,000

$800,000

$1,000,000

$1,200,000

Before Parks and Sidewalks Measure

After Parks and Sidewalks Measure

Olympia’s Commitment• Olympia is a city of about 45,000

people; well-educated workforce, with progressive politics generally.

• Funded School Walking Route Program (1990)

• Established Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee (1993)

• Adopted a Comprehensive Plan Vision: A Walkable, Pedestrian-Friendly Community (1995)

• Established New Development Standards requiring sidewalks, planter strips, streetlights (1996)

• BUT: As of 2004, funding was $150,000 per year – a 300+ year backlog to put a sidewalk on one side of major streets.

The problem:

LOTS of older streets built in “car” era without sidewalks

Not Enough Money To Move Quickly

Getting Inspired• Pro Bike / Pro Walk

conferences in Seattle, Arlington, Va, Portland, Or, Portland, Me, Santa Barbara, California…

• Regional conferences in the Pacific Northwest

• More than anything: Inspiration from Dan Burden’s presentations

Leaving Buttprints in the Sands of Time

• “You can’t leave footprints in the sands of time if you’re sitting on your butt. And who wants to leave buttprints in the sands of time?

– Ellen Vanderslice citing Bob Moawab

– Victoria, BC Bike/Ped Conference 11/98

• Hearings on Comprehensive Plan (1995) [butt-time]

• Hearings on development standards (1996) [butt-time]

• Development of Parks Plan (2000-2003) [butt-time]

• Development of Sidewalk Plan (1997-2003) [butt-time]

Ellen Was only Part Right!We left a lot of butt-prints in the chairs of local government

The Olympia Parks Plan

• Parks Department hired a consultant to update Parks Plan.• Planning Commissioner liaison to Parks Advisory

Committee• Ensured that walking questions were included in the poll.• Poll results: walking is the #1 form of active recreation.• Ensured that walking goals and policies were in the Plan.

• Established, unquestionably, that walking – on sidewalks – is a “Parks and Recreation” activity. This was VERY important when it came time to link the funding to Parks.

Olympia Sidewalk Plan

• BPAC field-checked every neighborhood collector, major collector, and arterial.

• Identified 255 segments without sidewalk.

• Prioritized missing sidewalk based on 10 objective criteria.

• $53 million sidewalk deficiency – and a $150,000/year sidewalk budget. (353 years!!)

With the Groundwork In Place…

• City staff had proposed a parks funding measure to implement the parks plan.

• City appointed an advisory committee to guide a funding measure decision to be put to the voters.

• We needed to influence this process.

The Pre-Campaign

• City Parks staff very focused on their measure, a 2% increase in the tax on phone, electric & gas.

• Two city council members were persuaded to include sidewalks in the assignment to the advisory committee.

• Needed to infiltrate and influence this committee.• We identified pro-sidewalk volunteers well-

connected to the City Council to serve on the committee.

Getting a Core Constituency Mobilized

• Created Walkable Olympia Neighborhoods

• Printed simple literature

• Installed realtor “infoboxes” at key locations.

• Developed an email list to turn people out.

Influencing the Dialog

• At first meeting of the advisory committee, there were five members of the public present…all sidewalk advocates

• At the second meeting of the advisory committee, there were 15 members of the public present…14 of them ours.

• Poll commissioned to guide the funding measure decision: – Our task: getting the questions on walking and

sidewalks included in a Parks Department driven survey; we were confident of the result.

Poll Results: A Critical Turning Point

• Poll results showed:– 42% approval for a 1% increase in utility tax for

sidewalks– 49% approval for a 2% increase for parks.– 57% approval for a 3% increase for parks and

sidewalks.

• Suddenly we were the margin of victory, not the insurgents!

• The advisory committee recommended a 3% increase, 2% for Parks, 1% for Sidewalks.

Next Step: The City Council Decision

• We did not wait for the public hearing. 150 yard signs placed before the City Council decided to put it to the voters.

• At the public hearing:50+ people spoke40+ pro-sidewalk 3 opposed the tax increase.

• City Council moved forward with a 3% increase proposal.

Forming a Campaign Committee

• Once the poll results were in, all uneasiness of Parks advocates disappeared.

• Joint committee formed, roughly 50% Parks advocates and 50% sidewalk advocates.

• Our name told the whole story: Olympians for a Livable Community: Parks,

Open Space, and Sidewalks.

The Message for Parks and Sidewalks

• Developed our message to voters based on the poll results.– A Legacy of Natural Treasures– A Livable Community– Health and Safety

• Raised about $12,000 to pay for campaign literature.

A Tactical Low-Budget Campaign

• Hired two college students for the summer for $2,000

• We headed off potential opposition– Chamber of Commerce convinced to be silent– Low-income advocates recognized the benefits

to low-income citizens.

Some Critical Campaign Elements

• Early deployment of signs• Letter-to-the-editor coordinator • Doorbelled walkable precincts.• Mailed to harder-to-walk precincts.• Lots of Signwaving• September election: better weather, and less “clutter.”

September 20: We Won!

• Remember those poll results: With a strong, coordinated campaign for Parks and Sidewalks, we could earn 57% of the vote?

• The final tally:

57.1%

What We’re Doing With the Money

• We are aggressively acquiring new parkland and open space.

• We are building sidewalks every year.– Established a sidewalk design and

project management team.– Using porous concrete to reduce

stormwater impacts– Sidewalk plan is prioritized:

getting the most important sidewalks in place first.

– Parks and Pathways logo on each project.

San Francisco Street: Before and After

San Francisco Street Near Reeves Middle School