Last August, I wrote about how we here in Washington State are organizing and mobilizing to fight Initiative 912, a ballot measure which would repeal 274 sorely needed transportation projects to improve public safety and relieve congestion.
Just over a week ago, a group of us, mostly bloggers, decided to take a big step beyond just fighting the initiative from our computer screens.
We decided to go out to one of Washington State's most unsafe structures - the Alaskan Way Viaduct in Seattle, an aging, elevated expressway which was damaged in the 2001 Nisqually quake that struck the Seattle area.
So that morning we met near one of the onramps to the viaduct. We took some of our "Safety First - NO on 912" yard signs (pictured to the left) mounted them on poles, and put up a 3x5 sign which read:
WARNING!
ENTERING I-912 EARTHQUAKE DISASTER AREA
TO FIX THIS ROADWAY
VOTE NO 912
We gave the media advance notice of our planned demonstration.
By 10 AM that morning, at least (if not more than)
half a dozen reporters and photographers had arrived to document our activity. We positioned ourselves right at the beginning of the onramp and spread out so that drivers could get a good look at our signs as they whipped past to get onto the viaduct.
Then we started the impromptu press conference. I gave a statement to the media (speaking off the top of my head, because reading prepared statements doesn't look so good on TV). After I finished making my statement, I took some questions, and, following that, some of the other participants of our demonstration had a chance to speak as well. The media left soon afterward, although we stuck around for about forty five minutes after that.
Though it was essentially organized at the last minute and we didn't have a huge turnout of supporters, I think it was still a phenomenal success.
But what excites me the most isn't the media coverage. It's the chance to get out and do something. It's a refreshing change from typing blog post after blog post explaining why Initiative 912 is so harmful to Washington State.
We're a handful of activists, but what we're doing is making a real difference.
We were simply going out there and making a statement. We believe that there is no free lunch. Public services, including transportation, cost money.
The demonstration was amazingly effective. Not all the media that showed up gave it coverage - but some did. Here's a couple pictures from the event:
KIRO Television in Seattle was by far the best. They did two clips of the demonstration - one within the first fifteen minutes of their five o'clock broadcast - perhaps the sixth or seventh story in, after the crime reports. It was a three minute segment with great footage of our demonstration.
They did another clip in the six o'clock hour around six thirty, about the same length, but with different sound bites. In the second clip there was a strong personal focus on my own activism, and the homepage of our website went up on screen. They even had their chopper shoot aerial footage.
KCPQ 13 (FOX affiliate) also gave us a thirty second clip on their ten o'clock broadcast. 710 KIRO radio was there too. Although I never heard whether we got any coverage from them, we probably did. I did appear on Dave Ross' show on 710 KIRO the day before to announce the demonstration.
I was amazed afterwards at how many people came up to me in the days that followed and exclaimed, "I saw you on the news!" Even my neighbors saw it. We reached less than a hundred drivers with our demonstration, but we reached thousands with the broadcast coverage we received.
The battle against Initiative 912 is almost over. Thousands of pieces of literature have been distributed. The business groups have spent millions running ads against the initiative and sending out direct mail. Democratic PCOs are walking their precincts asking their fellow voters to oppose 912. Final GOTV efforts are in motion for the last weekend.
The latest polling shows us up on the anti-tax zealots, but we'll take nothing for granted. What's interesting is that proponents aren't doing much of anything these days. Their enthusiasm seems to have petered out, and they don't have much of a financial reserve to tap.
But we are doing very well. We certainly have a shot at winning this - and we'll know next Tuesday.
Our own Pacific Northwest Portal will be providing LIVE election night coverage for Washington State next Tuesday. Visit the Portal to find out what happens to Initiative 912.
Here's hoping that we can join the people of Colorado in enjoying a victory for taxpayers.