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Library backers kick it up a notch Photo by Bob Pennell Get-out-the-vote effort is county's biggest ever By DANI DODGE Library supporters are doing everything they can to get out the vote: even paying phone solicitors. "We got some large last-minute donations," said Alison Rilling, chairwoman for Jackson County Friends of the Library. "We couldn't buy more ads. It was too late. We can't buy votes. So we bought time. Phone time." The dozen or so paid phone callers, though, pale in comparison to the 1,000-strong troop of volunteers flooding the phone lines with a now-familiar plea at most voter households: "Have you turned in your ballot yet?" The all-out effort to get people to return their ballots and pass the $38.9 million library bond is turning out to be the biggest effort ever in Jackson County. "It certainly is easily the biggest get-out-the-vote in Jackson County," said Ashland Mayor Cathy Shaw, who has written books on winning local campaigns. "They are out there working and making it happen." To pass, the county library bond not only needs approval by a majority of voters, but also at least a 50 percent ballot-return rate. Through Thursday, 30,805 of the county's 105,000 registered voters had returned their ballots. That's more than 29 percent. Passage of the bond, Measure 15-6, would allow the county to build a new main library and upgrade 13 branches. Ashland voters already approved their own $5.96 million bond measure for upgrading and expanding Ashland's library. If the countywide measure passes, the Ashland bond will be incorporated into it, lowering the cost to Ashland residents by 0.15 cents per thousand dollars of assessed property value. Still, the initial ballot returns were low in Ashland, so Shaw recruited 120 volunteers to start calling around town -- in addition to the county's effort. On Tuesday, the Ashlanders may take their effort a step further. They'll walk a couple of what Shaw calls "high-support, low-turnout precincts" picking up ballots. Rilling said she's thrilled to have all-out efforts going on in every corner of the county. In addition to Ashland, and five in Medford, there are calling centers in Eagle Point, Shady Cove, Gold Hill, Rogue River, Jacksonville, Ruch, Applegate and Central Point. Although the base of the effort has come from Friends of the Library groups around the county, those groups tend to be small, Rilling said. "Many of them have organized," she said. "Many of them got their neighbors, their grocers and their dentists to do the calling." At the centers -- which tend to be offices where a lot of phones are available, such as real estate offices -- volunteers and paid staff get lists of registered voters whose ballots haven't yet been counted, and start dialing. They simply ask the people who answer if they have turned in their ballots. If they have, they're thanked. If they haven't, they are encouraged to do so. The 1,000 volunteers making nightly calls include seniors, county department heads and teens. At Coldwell Banker Pro West in Medford one night last week, nearly 30 people made calls at once, while one lonely agent tried to conduct business. Fifteen-year-olds Brenda Tesdal and Caitrin O'Connell earned school credit for community service as they made calls. "The nice people are fun," Tesdal said. She grimaced and laughed, though, about the few who weren't. At the same office, Cyd Bagley, a fourth-grade reading assistant, said she volunteered because she wants the measure to pass. "A week ago when I got a call asking me to do this, I thought, `No way can they do this, the voting numbers are too low,"' she said. "But from my calling, I think it's better. Most people I've talked to say they've just turned in their ballots." Tanna Palomino is getting paid through a temp agency to make calls. Even though she's a phone mercenary, she said it's an easy job to do because she believes in the cause. "I have three children who will use the library through their lives," she said. Mayor Shaw said her callers in Ashland are almost all people who have volunteered for campaigns for her in the past. "We have high motivation here," Shaw said. "If they get out and vote for the library, they lower their taxes." And in Ashland, there's more at stake than spending less for a new library -- a youth activities levy also hangs in the balance. "We'll be in a world of woe if that doesn't pass," Shaw said. "I don't even like to think about it." Campaign organizers know they are fighting a tough battle to reach a 50 percent turnout. "When we first started doing vote by mail we would see 30 percent return in the first week and we were like 11 percent this election," said County Clerk Kathy Beckett. "That gives you some sense about what you are up against." Rilling said she believes all the calling will push the campaign past the 50 percent mark. She's pleased about Ashland's planned door-to-door effort and says calls will continue countywide through election day. "If Ashland wants to carry us over the top, we'll be more than happy to ride their coattails," she said. "It's not enough on its own, but throwing Ashland into the mix will throw us over." Today's Edition : News | Sports | Business | Weather | Tempo | Classifieds Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA