For most Americans, the drama of last week's elections was watching to see if their favorite candidates would win or lose. But for Burson-Marsteller's Sacramento office, the election meant closure on two California propositions the firm worked on for months.
Hours after the polls closed Nov. 3, BM staffers not only were done with months of hard work, they had two victories under their belts:
- Proposition 9 was defeated. Since January, five BM employees had devoted thousands of hours to encouraging "no" votes. The proposal would have killed California's utility competition law and mandated an immediate 20% cut in utility rates. BM represented a coalition fighting the proposition, including client Southern California Edison, which donated an undisclosed amount toward the $40 million spent to defeat the referendum.
- Proposition 1A passed. The measure, which BM staffers only had about six weeks to rally support for, allocates $9.2 billion in bond monies to rebuild and expand California's schools. Among BM's accomplishments was the placement of more than 1,000 stories with radio, TV and print media outlets. Editorials were also secured, including one last month in the Los Angeles Times which called 1A a "smart choice."
BM Director Sharon Hawkins, who had worked on the 1A "yes" campaign, said the coalition's focus (members include the California Taxpayers' Association and the California Teachers Association) had been earned, versus paid, media.
Of the two, Proposition 9 was the most controversial. It was spurred by heated interest from environmental and consumer groups dissatisfied with how deregulation was being handled in California. More than 2,000 state and local organizations worked to derail the referendum.
"We had a party at the Chamber of Commerce," said BM Manager Kathy Fairbanks about the Proposition 9 win, adding that those who worked on the campaign fielded about 15 calls from the press once results rolled in.
(BM, 916/341-1010)