Last week, a good-government group in Wisconsin called Citizen Action filed a complaint against Advocates for Student Achievement, one of those right-wing, pro-voucher outfits that adopted Bush-era doublespeak for a name. I've already done the math and concluded to my own satisfaction that they're pro-voucher, despite their protestations, and that they've engaged in candidate recruitment and training, though they say otherwise, and that they've run their own fundraising operation on behalf of their recommended candidates, though they say they haven't.
I read the Citizen Action complaint, and I understand the point that Citizen Action is making. Wisconsin law says that if you create a political action committee, and it functions as a political action committee, then the PAC has to register itself and make regular campaign finance reports to the appropriate state agency. And Advocates for Student Achievement hasn't done that; it's been busy targeting Milwaukee Public Schools Board President Peter Blewett for defeat, training and raising money for its own candidates -- Redonna Rodgers, Annie Woodward and David Voeltner -- and not taking any calls from the mean old media.
(Apologies the length of this note, but it's a lot of information that may not stick around for long.)
The way I see, the person who's likely most disgruntled about Citizen Action's complaint is Kevin Ronnie.
See, Kevin Ronnie ran against Peter Blewett four years ago, and Blewett, well, blew him out of the water. I mentioned that race in passing a couple of weeks ago, but a bit of it bears repeating, for context:
Schools chief race among few on ballot As filing deadline passes, many races uncontested - Wednesday, January 5, 2005
On the city's west side, School Board President Peter Blewett, 48, a lecturer at UW-Milwaukee, will be challenged by Kevin Ronnie, 46, the director of operations for the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy.
The Journal-Sentinel ran a series of profiles on the candidates that year, and here's what it said about Ronnie:
Ronnie would seek to give schools control - Thursday, March 24, 2005
Ronnie, who has worked as the director of field operations for the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy for the last several years, does not have any children. But he does have considerable frustration with the current leadership of the School Board and Board President Peter Blewett. This has made the race the most contentious and feisty of the three contested MPS board elections. Ronnie’s deliberate, methodical and mild-mannered style is a stark contrast to Blewett’s loquacious and unfettered approach.
You know what they say: It's the "deliberate, methodical and mild-mannered ones" that you have to worry about.
Of course, just as night follows day, the Journal-Sentinel endorsed Ronnie.
Reformers for MPS board - Friday, April 1, 2005
On Tuesday, voters can and should put control of the Milwaukee School Board back into the hands of the reformers. That means electing Kevin Ronnie in the 6th District on the west side, Bernadine Bradford in the 4th District on the north side and Danny Goldberg in the 7th District on the southwest side. The shift would also entail ousting two incumbents: board President Peter Blewett in the 6th and Vice President Charlene Hardin in the 4th.
...
What’s more, two candidates — Ronnie, field director for a national philanthropic organization, and Goldberg, an educator and strategic planning consultant — are superb in their grasp of the issues, their vision for reform and their proven ability to get things done. Ronnie has gotten high marks for his work as the first director of ACHOICE (now called Community Shares), which raises funds at workplaces for activist organizations.
Imagine that. The guy's job was to raise money for activist organizations.
But that race didn't turn out well for the Journal-Sentinel or for Ronnie. Voters had different priorities:
Newcomer’s win could signal shift for MPS board But Blewett, Hardin both defeat their challengers - Wednesday, April 6, 2005
Board President Peter Blewett defeated challenger Kevin Ronnie on the city’s west side.
...
Ronnie said Tuesday night that he wished Blewett well. "There are a tremendous number of issues that need to be dealt with," he added. He attributed his loss to the fact that Blewett outspent him, saying that Blewett probably spent three times what he was able to.
Going even further, the Journal-Sentinel called it "unfortunate" that Blewett had won re-election in its follow-up.
Time ripe for MPS reform - Thursday, April 14, 2005
No, the results were not as rosy as they should have been. Unfortunately, incumbents Peter Blewett, the board’s president, and Charlene Hardin, the vice president, defeated reform-minded challengers Kevin Ronnie and Bernadine Bradford in contests on the west and north sides, respectively.
I've always been skeptical when defeated candidates wish their winning opponents well. It feels awkward, like the defeated one has a little angel on one shoulder, prodding him to play nice, while the devil on the other shoulder is steaming, squinting, arms-crossed and tapping his cloven hoof.
I'm one who believes in saying what you think, and evidence suggests that Kevin Ronnie's internal devil believes as I do. While Ronnie's shoulder angel may have gotten him to wish Blewett well in 2005, his shoulder devil got work on the plan for revenge. Was Kevin Ronnie a co-founder of Advocates for Student Achievement? Maybe, maybe not. That's unclear.
But what's crystal-clear is that Ronnie didn't go away. Instead, he recast himself as ASA's Milwaukee Machiavelli, planning and plotting behind the scenes to bring Peter Blewett down in 2009 -- in fact, in April 7's election.
How do we know this?
After reading Citizen Action's complaint, I started Googling the combination of names in it, and Google turned up a link I didn't expect. It turns out that ASA opened a public Yahoo group last July and has been using it for send and receive some of its internal communication. It's completely public -- you can see it for yourself here.
Now, I don't want to give anybody in ASA a complex or anything, but I think that if "I" had set up a Yahoo group to send and receive sensitive internal communications, "I" might not have left it open to the public.
Having said that, once I discovered what Google had given me, I popped a big bowl of popcorn and sat down to read. Some of it's really pedestrian -- getting head counts for their meetings over at Highland Park Pies, planning meetings with the editors of black-community newspapers to enlist their support, Emily Koczela's graduate work taking her attention away from ASA commitments, and Wendell Willis's new addition to the family (Halle Joseph, 9 lbs, 8 oz) arriving in December at the same time that ASA was haggling to get more matching funds from Dick Pieper.
But other parts of it are enlightening, especially the parts that show Kevin Ronnie's management of the group. It appears that someone engaged Anne Curley to handle the operations of ASA -- and she pulls hard to keep everyone on the same page -- but it's clear from the top that Ronnie provides the heavy thinking and direction. In fact, it's Ronnie who first met with Redonna Rodgers to talk about running against Peter Blewett. See:
From: "Anne Curley" <anne@...>
Date: Thu Sep 4, 2008 4:11 pm
Subject: FW: ReDonna Rodgers
Thought you'd all like to see the encouraging note below.
Anne Curley
Curley Communication
13500 Watertown Plank Road, L101
Milwaukee, WI 53122
-----Original Message-----
From: Kevin Ronnie [mailto:kronnie@...]
Sent: Thursday, September 04, 2008 10:07 AM
To: 'John Parr'; Anne Curley
Subject: ReDonna Rodgers
I ran into her last night at a fund raiser for Barbara Lawton. She is eager to meet with me, and we are setting a date for this weekend. I think she is 95% committed to running in the 6th District. I think we have our candidate, and my early impressions are very favorable.
kevin
Kevin Ronnie
When Ronnie sent that note to Anne at 10:07 a.m. on September 4, he mustn't have anticipated that she would post it for all of ASA to see it, because once she did at 4:11 p.m., he posted his own caution for the group's review at 5:06 p.m.:
From: "Kevin Ronnie" <kronnie@...>
Date: Thu Sep 4, 2008 5:06 pm
Subject: RE: ReDonna Rodgers
Let’s keep this under our collective hats until she makes a final decision. We also need to respect any direction she might need to set for us in terms of her degree of engagement with ASA. There may be tactical reasons for her to distance herself.
kevin
Isn't that curious? If Redonna Rodgers was willing to take ASA's training, campaign organizing and fundraising support, why would she want to distance herself publicly from ASA? Ronnie never elaborates on that point, so we're left to wonder.
ASA clearly had high hopes to work with David Voeltner and to wring some matching funds out of Dick Pieper, too:
From: "Anne Curley" <anne@...>
Date: Fri Sep 5, 2008 5:43 pm
Subject: Minutes from last ASA exec cttee meeting
SO sorry to be so slow in getting out the notes from our last meeting. After a very slow first half, I am suddenly swamped with work. In any event, here's a recap:
* * *
We made $700 at the August 19 fundraiser. At future events, Wendell will have a sign-in sheet to gather e-mail addresses and phone numbers.
John (and maybe Kevin) will meet with David Voeltner within the next 10 days to lay out a timeline, perhaps working backward from the election, of what he needs to do by when.
Wendell and Bruce will meet with Dick Pieper at 2:30 on September 15 at Heinemann's in Bayside to report and ask for matching funds.
Bruce will meet with Justin Mortara to lay out the political realities of running in the 5th District and try to firm him up. May include Lilith in the meeting as she could be a great helper (or even campaign manager?) for Justin.
John and Kevin will meet with Redonna Rodgert toi lay out what it will take to run a successful campaign in the 6th district.
Curley published the group's to-do list on September 8:
From: "Anne Curley" <anne@...>
Date: Sat Sep 13, 2008 6:21 pm
Subject: To-do items and notes from 9/8 ASA exec cttee meeting
Notes from 9/8/08 ASA Executive Committee Meeting
To-do items:
Wendell will contact all candidates/prospects to finalize date for next orientation briefing. (Have since moved Session 2 back to Sept. 29.) Spent a good deal of time discussing what the content should be for this issues-oriented session. Emily is lining up presenters. Emily, do you need any more help with this?
By 9/19, Emily and Wendell will set date for Orientation Session 3 -- in mid-October? -- and Wendell will e-mail this info to candidates/prospects.
Wendell will put together a plan for the 4th District before we meet again.
Before our next exec. cttee meeting, Wendell will make a date with Steve Adams, if Steve is willing, to talk to editors of the Milwaukee Community Journal, Milwaukee Courier, and any other opinion leaders in the black community they feel are worth meeting with. Purpose is to encourage black media to advocate for strong potential candidates from the African-American community to step forward. Probably a good idea for them also to familiarize these people with ASA as a resource for people who want to explore this possibility, right?
Anne will ask Steve Baas if MMAC would secure walk lists for the four districts in a format that permits label-printing. Bruce says we should get lists of people who voted in all four of the last four spring elections, plus the newly registered.
FYI items:
ASA-MKE has $6,325 on hand. Bruce and Wendell are meeting with Dick Pieper, who has said he will match what we raise.
Kevin and John met with ReDonna Rodgers, whom they perceive to be a very strong potential challenger to Blewett. She is 95% decided that she will run.
John is having a hard time getting David Voeltner to sit down and put together a timeline and a group of supporters. John's been very busy himself, but says he'll push on this before the next meeting.
So it looks like the Milwaukee Metropolitan Association of Commerce was working hand-in-glove with ASA, providing walk lists and other resources. David Voeltner was playing hard-to-get. And I notice that ASA's media outreach plan didn't include the Shepherd Express...
Curley posted an interesting note on October 10 that described ASA's "Phase 2"
in which ASA becomes active in helping candidates to raise funds and volunteers
It included a candidate questionnaire that included the following questions:
4. What is your position on:
a. busing
b. school closings
c. school safety
d. balancing the need for adequate funding with the need to control tax increases?
e. charter schools
f. the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program?
f. dividing large high schools into smaller schools?
g. the MPS superintendent?
- What kind of relationship, if any, should there be between MPS and other k-12 schools in the city?
- What is your view on the proper role of the school board?
- Do you believe MPS should be broken into smaller districts?
- What do you see as the pros and cons of an elected versus an appointed board?
- Many children come to MPS with social, emotional and/or health problems that interfere with learning. What should be the role of MPS, if any, in addressing these problems?
In late October, ASA offered to hire Jodi Goldberg to write its position papers, but Goldberg turned down the offer. She instead recommended Mike Mathias, who won Kevin Ronnie's approval. At the same time, Ronnie slid into the role of "staff support" for ASA, giving him an official platform to advise and direct the rest of the group.
In November, Curley complained that Redonna Rodgers and Annie Woodward were still "kind of wobbly," and that ASA hadn't had "any significant media coverage to date," so she "bounced an idea" off the ASA group:
Should I try to get Jim Stingl to interview Mike, John and Wendell about ASA's efforts to surface candidates for the board? We haven't had any significant media coverage to date and two of the three people we're currently working with (Redonna and Annie) still seem kind of wobbly. Exposure in the Journal-Sentinel might surface other interested citizens. And by proactively seeking coverage, we can better control how ASA is portrayed.
Not sure Jim will bite, but I suggest him because a.) it's likely to be a friendly, easy-going interview, b.) his column gets good play and is well read, c) I know him and could easily approach him. Good idea?
Odd, isn't it, that ASA anticipated an interview by the Journal-Sentinel to be "a friendly, easy-going interview" and that it believed it could control its public image better by working with the Journal-Sentinel?
Bruce Thompson had doubts about the strategy because it might appear to Redonna and Annie that ASA was still looking for candidates to run in their districts. But Curley, the communications expert, saw a way around their discomfort:
From: "Anne Curley" <anne@...>
Date: Thu Nov 6, 2008 1:29 am
Subject: RE: Should we seek media coverage at this point?
Good point. I think this could be done without suggesting that at all. First of all, it wouldn't be obvious that we had approached Jim rather than vice versa. Second, we'd position the fact that we've got three people who've declared their intent to run as a sign that our efforts are paying off.
Bruce didn't have to wait long for his concerns to be realized. On November 7, Lena Stephenson called to say she would run for the MPS Board from District 6, the same district that ASA was already preparing Redonna Rodgers to run for.
I can see the dilemma: If ASA were a real advocacy group whose only purpose was to "surface" candidates for office, then Stephenson's call isn't a problem. But since ASA already has a candidate-in-training to defeat Peter Blewett, how does it navigate these ethical and legal waters? Curley lays out the problem for the group, hitting all the bases:
From: "Anne Curley" <anne@...>
Date: Mon Nov 10, 2008 3:12 pm
Subject: Here's a note from a new candidate for District 6 seat
See note below. I had a long conversation with this woman, Lena Stephenson, impressing upon her the time commitment involved in running a successful campaign and getting up to speed on the issues. She says she's definitely got the time available and is motivated to invest it. She is white, by the way.
Needless to say, this poses some issues since ReDonna also is running for the sixth. But as I recall, we've agreed that our goal is to encourage all interested citizens who meet certain basic criteria.
Kevin Ronnie weighed in November 10 on the question of looking for media coverage, and offered his own talking points:
From: "Kevin Ronnie" <kronnie@...>
Date: Mon Nov 10, 2008 9:16 pm
Subject: RE: NEED MORE FEEDBACK: Should we seek media coverage at this point?
ASA is going to be a campaign issue. The fact that we are recruiting candidates to replace MTEA backed board members will be used against those we have put out there. So we need to make an effort to spin our work positively.
That said, I'd say seek something in December when people start circulating their nomination papers.
Possible news hooks could be:
* That we want real change on the school board - not just different school board members but school board members that place the interests of
kids above the old politics of the last ten years.
* Kids, not adults, first.
* We can also point to the number & quality of candidates we've added to the election pool.
A week later, Ronnie reported that he'd had further conversation with Redonna about the race, she was now working with Eric Hogansen, and Ronnie was newly pleased at her activity level. And, there was another bombshell announcement: Blewett and Redonna had talked!
From: "Kevin Ronnie" <kronnie@...>
Date: Mon Nov 17, 2008 3:17 am
Subject: RE: Monday's Meeting / straw pole
I have to take my boy to school – so will not be able to attend.
Just want to report that ReDonna appears to be picking up the pace. I am feeling much better about her candidacy. She is working with Eric. She is starting to get a good buzz in the community – people at two different meetings she attended this weekend stood up and publically called for people to support her.
That – and Blewett called her and asked to meet. He is obviously worried. (He never called me when he learned I was running . . . had no need to.) He either wants to a) talk her out of running, b) try to intimidate her, c) pick up some intelligence he can use – and lord knows he could use a shot of intelligence, but I digress.)
In sum, I suspect he is hearing that she is going to be a formidable foe.
Talk to you all soon.
When another potential candidate surfaced for the seventh district -- realtor Mary Anne Stephens -- Curley discouraged her from running but said she could sit in on a "training" if she REALLY wanted to:
From: "Anne Curley" <anne@...>
Date: Fri Nov 21, 2008 7:52 pm
Subject: Another query from a potential candidate
FYI, another realtor has contacted me about running for the school board. Her name is Mary Anne Stephens and she lives in the 7th district. I told her that district already has a strong candidate running, but she sent me the e-mail below nonetheless. So I told her about tomorrow morning's session since we are not in the business of turning away interested individuals.
Meanwhile, as no support for Lena Stephenson's candidacy against Redonna Rodgers had materialized, she gave up trying and joined the crowd:
From: Rob and Lena Stephenson [mailto:roblena@...]
Sent: Friday, November 21, 2008 4:45 PM
To: Anne Curley; Kevin Ronnie
Subject: MPS Board of Directors - District 6
Dear Anne and Kevin,
Thank you both for your time and attention these past few weeks. I really appreciate the information that has been forwarded on to me as well as the time Kevin dedicated on Wednesday evening to discuss the importance of the district 6 position.
After much consideration, I have decided that my efforts will be best spent assisting other candidates with their campaigns. Since ReDonna has already stepped forward for the 6th district and has made some strides in launching her campaign, I would much rather help her hit the ground running, versus getting side-tracked with a primary election. I also feel like helping with a campaign is a logical next step to prepare me for a future run at a position on the school board.
I'm still willing to attend the Saturday morning roundtable meetings, if that would make sense. (However, I am unable to attend tomorrow's meeting.) Also, Kevin had mentioned that he may be able to put me in contact with ReDonna. I would love some one-on-one time with her (if she's willing and feels she can spare the time), to better understand her vision for this campaign and how I can help her defeat Peter Blewitt.
Also, I'd really like to develop a relationship with ASA. I can offer minimal support financially, but if there is any other way I can help the organization further it's mission, please let me know.
Thank you.
Lena Stephenson
The new year started well, with Curley collecting a number of fresh donations from ASA's sponsors:
From: "Anne Curley" <anne@...>
Date: Mon Jan 12, 2009 4:56 pm
Subject: Good news!
Joe is picking up a check for $18,000+ from Dick Pieper today and I just received a check from M&I, made out to ASA-PAC, for $3,000! We also received recent contributions of $250 from David Frank, the landscaper, and $100 from Mick Hatch, a member of the ASA Advisory Board (as is Dennis Kuester, who got us the $ from M&I). So we’re in the money again.
Then began conversation about a poll, and about the Milwaukee Fund for Public Education.
Here's where things get more interesting:
From: "Kevin Ronnie" <kronnie@...>
Date: Wed Jan 21, 2009 3:29 pm
Subject: Campaign Committees for Our Candidates
Attached is a list of the names and addresses of the campaign committees for the candidates that have been involved in the ASA process. I’ve also included the address for the Milwaukee Fund for Public Education.
I send this to everyone for two reasons:
- So we as members of ASA can make contributions to the candidate(s) of our choice(s).
- So as you talk to potential donors you know where to direct them to make their contributions.
I’ve also included the address for the Milwaukee Fund for Public Education. Anyone wanting to give to more than one candidate, but wanting to write one check – can bundle the contribution through the Milwaukee Fund for Education – which is a conduit. Contributions through the conduit need to include a note indicating how the contribution is to be allocated.
Thanks to all.
kevin
The Milwaukee Fund for Public Education? Isn't that a pro-voucher PAC that dumped money into the last round of MPS Board races on the side of pro-voucher candidates? And now Kevin Ronnie says it's a "conduit" for contributions to Redonna Rodgers, Annie Woodward and David Voeltner? Is that legal?
I'm no lawyer, so I can't say whether or not it's legal. I just know it doesn't smell right.
Then that infamous push-poll came along. ASA contracted with Brilliant Corners because its leader is Cornell Belcher, the guy who did polling for Barack Obama, and Belcher's name would give the poll instant credibility, I assume. But when the poll was finished, Belcher wouldn't deliver it until ASA sent payment for it -- good thinking! -- though ASA went ahead and prepared material for its candidates' use.
From: "KOCZELA, Steven"
Date: Fri, 23 Jan 2009 16:07:01 -0800
To: Anne Curley<anne@...>
Subject: FW: Invoice from Brilliant Corners
We have the presentation and fundraising memos ready to go, but in light of this, we would prefer to wait until Monday to send these items. I would be happy to participate on the phone tomorrow if needed to familiarize the candidates with the data.
And the flyer went out:
Please join us for the release of compelling poll results on MPS.
Obama pollster Cornell Belcher has surveyed voters in other troubled urban school districts. But he says he’s never seen the likes of the response to a poll conducted last week of Milwaukee Public School District residents.
Please be our guest at a special breakfast meeting from 7:30 to 8:45 a.m. on Monday, Feb. 2 to learn what citizens who are most likely to vote in the February and April MPS board elections have to say about our city’s K-12 schools, the current board leadership, and how the board should function in the future.
Belcher, lead pollster for the Democratic National Committee and a member of the Obama campaign’s inner circle, will present the results and provide commentary via web conference.
You’ll also have a chance to meet several non-incumbent candidates for the MPS board who have their own views on how to bring about change at MPS.
Curley was concerned that anyone responding to the flyer online would be sent to an employee of campaign manager Eric Hogansen -- a definite no-no, right?
From: "Anne Curley" <anne@...>
Date: Tue Jan 27, 2009 2:10 am
Subject: RE: Re: Here's draft invitation copy for your review
Not sure Wendell can help with the e-mail address. I see the one on the site goes to an employee of campaign manager Eric Hogensen, which is not appropriate. I contacted our webmaster to change it, but he indicated he's out of town and may not be able to. The best solution may be just go have rsvps go to asa4mke@... new address I just created today, for which I can give you the username and password.
And ASA was eager to get it into the hands of candidates who "fit" ASA's profile:
From: "Anne Curley" <anne@...>
Date: Wed Jan 28, 2009 10:36 pm
Subject: Here's full poll report for your quick review
Attached is the most complete report produced by Brilliant Corners. We paid a lot of money for these insights and should take pains to ensure that the report doesn’t fall into the wrong hands. As noted in the e-mail I just sent, we’ll only be sharing aggregate results, stripped of campaign strategy advice, at the meeting on Monday.
After you guys have had a chance to look it over...assuming no one has any significant concerns about it...I am assuming we should get this info to interested candidates who fit ASA’s profile ASAP...like within 24 hours so they can start incorporating more of these insights into their messaging if they so desire.
See, the plan was coming together, really cooking now.
From: "Anne Curley" <anne@...>
Date: Thu Jan 29, 2009 7:22 pm
Subject: Sharing poll results with candidates
Question for the group: Should we send David, ReDonna, Annie and Mike the full report on the poll results, along with the strategy memo from Brilliant Corners, today? Or should we wait until Monday morning to maintain tight control until the official release?
The train was definitely on the tracks. ASA had gold in its hands, and Kevin Ronnie didn't want it to lose its value be releasing it too early:
From: "Kevin Ronnie" <kronnie@...>
Date: Thu Jan 29, 2009 10:08 pm
Subject: RE: Sharing poll results with candidates
I would send the report but with a couple of clear messages.
- That this is not to be shared with the media. ASA will handle media contacts.
- That keeping this closely held is important to them as candidates. If MTEA / WEAC / Citizen Action types get their hands on this, it will be used to preempt or to blunt the messages that they (our candidates) might want to use.
- That they should share the full report with their campaign managers as their professionals can use the detail in this poll to sharpen and shape mail / messaging strategies.
That's my two cents,
Kevin
But then, all Hell broke loose.
From: "Anne Curley" <anne@...>
Date: Fri Jan 30, 2009 6:26 pm
Subject: Big reaction developing to Monday meeting
A couple major updates:
Cornell Belcher has gotten major heat from the Democratic National Conference and the American Federation of Teachers for being associated with ASA, which they describe as a "pro-voucher organization." So Cornell is taking his name off the presentation and the memo. Kevin, if you haven’t distributed same to candidates yet, wait for the new versions, which I’ll send in a few minutes.
This flap arose because our invitation reached the hands of folks including Charlie Dee and Michael Rosen, who have registered to attend on Monday. Because we had to finalize an attendance number with the ICC, I have turned on an automated response indicating to anyone who e-mails us an RSVP that we’re unable to accept any additional reservations due to logistical constraints. We still do have some spaces available for those of you who haven’t signed up yet or for anyone else we feel we need to make an exception for.
Obviously, it will be very important for us to position ASA accurately in the opening remarks on Monday. I have suggested to Bruce that we have Lena speak on ASA’s behalf in Mike Dawson’s absence. I think Lena’s an appropriate spokesperson on several levels...as our Coordinator...as an MPS parent...as the co-chair of an MPS school’s governance council...and simply as a concerned citizen.
It might be even better if we could pair Lena with John. How would you feel about that, John? It would certainly send the message that we are NOT anti-union. How do the rest of you feel about this?
I’m thinking we should be very explicit in saying that ASA is NOT an arm of the school choice movement...and NOT a tool of the business community...but rather an organization that’s focused on getting a school board that will work together with a singular, pragmatic focus on improving student achievement.
What are the group’s thoughts on the above?
Anne
The little devil on Kevin Ronnie's shoulder wasted little time sharing his thoughts:
From: "Kevin Ronnie" <kronnie@...>
Date: Fri Jan 30, 2009 7:52 pm
Subject: RE: Big reaction developing to Monday meeting
Everyone,
Let me start with my third reaction after I got through my ‘wtf’ and 'oh shit' moment. We can expect good media coverage of the presentation and the poll. That means we all need to be on the top of our game on Monday morning. We need a set of message / bullet points for all ASA members that answers the likely questions, and everybody from ASA needs to review the bullet points and stay on message.
Anne, To your specific questions about the event:
I agree with a specific statement about ASA not being a pro-voucher group.
We are a good government group
We are trying to encourage good people to challenge for these seats.
Good candidates and vigorously contested elections are needed to preserve faith in a democratically elected MPS Board.
I would emphasize that all people that were not incumbents were invited repeatedly to participate. Some opted to, some did not.
I agree with the idea of having Lena and John make the presentations.
OTHER THOUGHTS:
- It may be better if Bruce doesn’t attend. Bruce is the obvious person that the press will want to focus on. They could easily make the story line into a Blewett / Thompson feud. I’d like to hear from others concerning this.
Bruce, regardless of whether you attend you need to prepare your responses for questions about your role / involvement, why you are trying to get rid of fellow board members, etc.
- Do we need to have a bullet point response to the question – what’s wrong with Blewett? He is now the only incumbent on the ballot, and we are gunning for him. Why? That’s the question the press may want to dig at. A simple one or two sentence response might be useful. Something like:
"As the poll indicates, the public is demanding real change from the district. That change needs to start with the failed leadership of the current board."
- Another possible question: "Doesn’t this poll indicate that the change people really want is the elimination of an elected board."
Answer: "We think that elections are important, and that is why we are working to recruit good candidates. The only way to preserve an elected board is to elect good people that can regain the trust of the majority of voters."
FINAL THOUGHTS
- Under no circumstances should we make available the cross tabs at the presentation. If there is agreement on this point, I ask that nobody even bring a copy to the room.
- Dee and Rosen: My sense is that there is no good way to uninvite them. I'd rather not have those vultures in the room, but if we bar the door the story will be about them being uninvited / kicked out of the meeting. So we have to move to a damage control mode.
Be prepared for them to do some sort of press action of their own after the presentation, and don’t be surprised if Blewett shows up, either for the presentation or afterwards. If he knows the press is going to be there, he might want to try and spin this in his direction. (Biased poll, paid for by dirty voucher money, evil nasty people out to get me, etc.)
That’s enough. WTF – it was going to break sooner or later.
Kevin Ronnie
Ronnie had another idea, too:
From: "Kevin Ronnie" <kronnie@...>
Date: Fri Jan 30, 2009 8:25 pm
Subject: RE: Big reaction developing to Monday meeting
P.S. Cornell may have to taken his name off the results, but we paid for his work and his name. Can we still make the points: highly respected polling firm, done work for Obama, valid and reliable results?
Kevin Ronnie
But none of this would matter much is Alan Borsuk, education reporter for the Journal-Sentinel, wouldn't cover it. And in response to ASA's appeals, and the gathering storm around the "push-poll," Borsuk apparently had gotten cold feet:
From: "Anne Curley" <anne@...>
Date: Mon Feb 2, 2009 4:21 pm
Subject: Need your immediate advice on handling question raised by Alan Borsuk
Alan seems most interested in the issue of whether we included push-polling questions against Blewett in our survey. He wants to know how the questions about Blewett were worded. He doesn’t care about the results, just the questions.
Which, of course, defeated the whole purpose. What happened to the good old days, when you could tell a reporter what to write, and he published it?
If Borsuk wouldn't play ball, Curley had another idea:
From: "Anne Curley" <anne@...>
Date: Mon Feb 2, 2009 10:29 pm
Subject: Update on Journal-Sentinel story
Alan Borsuk says he doesn’t plan to do a story for tomorrow’s paper...not that excited about the poll results...seems to feel they are compromised by the allegations of push-polling. Wants to see all the questions, in the order in which they were asked, so he can judge for himself whether it was a biased or otherwise inappropriate survey. And he’s only willing to look at this information on an on-the-record basis.
I have a call in to Mark Kass at the Business Journal to see if we can get a good spread on this there.
Other suggestions on how we should leverage the poll results while they’re still fresh?
Straining hard to salvage the investment of $11,000 in a poll -- not to mention the investment of four years' worth of vengeance against Peter Blewett -- Kevin Ronnie himself drafted a fundraising letter to ASA's supporters, and Curley distributed it to the group:
From: "Anne Curley" <anne@...>
Date: Wed Feb 4, 2009 10:29 pm
Subject: Would you be willing to write a few last-minute checks...
Dear friends,
I am forwarding the e-mail below to you from Kevin Ronnie. Kevin is facilitating the school board candidate roundtables that Advocates for Student Achievement holds every Saturday morning to give moral and practical support to the three candidates whom we believe are the best choices in the upcoming MPS board races. We are hoping you will help these three candidates boost their campaign contribution numbers before the first financial report is due this Friday.
I apologize for the 11th hour nature of this appeal. We all have other day jobs and the Friday filing deadline snuck up on us. If you’re willing and able to write a few checks, either Kevin or I will pick them up from you tomorrow and get them to the candidates. If you can’t respond this quickly, your contributions are still most welcome.
Thanks!
Anne
p.s. Please note that we are making this request strictly as individuals, and not on behalf of ASA.
_______________________
Dear executive committee and special friends of Advocates for Student Achievement,
The first financial report for the three candidates that we have helped to recruit and develop is due this Friday. To show that they have momentum, they need your financial support before Friday, if you are willing to help. If you are willing to write checks to one or more of the campaigns, I will stop by and collect them at your convenience tomorrow.
The candidates -- ReDonna Rogers, David Voeltner and Annie Woodward -- are working very hard. They all made impressive presentations at Monday’s presentation of the landscape poll They are all good candidates, but they need help raising money. They don’t come from money, there isn’t a lot of money available in their family networks, and they don’t have a lot of experience in shaking the money tree for themselves.
Be assured that they are all making calls and working hard. Annie is doing doors with her leg still recovering from a fracture. ReDonna is doing doors and on the phones daily dialing for dollars, as is David when he’s not on duty as a firefighter.
Their first financial report is a key hurdle. If the report shows them to be lagging they will find it harder as the campaign progresses to tap into local community leadership and business dollars.
I’ve given a total of $800 to the three candidates thus far. The maximum that anyone can give to any single candidate is $800. I’d like to ask you to make the largest possible contribution you can to each of these candidates. If you can do this right away, I’ll be happy to pick up and deliver your checks tomorrow.
For your convenience I’ve listed the campaign committee names and addresses below:
Annie Woodward for Education
---
Friends to elect ReDonna Rodgers
---
(You can make a credit card contribution to ReDonna’s campaign at her website.)
Voeltner for School Board
---
Finally, below is boilerplate that you can use as an email to your friends, colleagues, and other networks. Please encourage others to step up and support these courageous individuals.
Many thanks –
Kevin
P.S. For the record, this email is not sent by ASA-MKE, nor does it suggest or imply any endorsement of any candidate by ASA-MKE. I’m simply sharing with you my passion for a great group of candidates that I’ve met through the ASA recruitment and education process.
Kevin Ronnie
Good work, Kevin.
When the response to Ronnie's fundraising letter wasn't exactly overwhelming, Curley followed up with her own helpful offers:
From: "Anne Curley" <anne@...>
Date: Thu Feb 5, 2009 5:07 pm
Subject: CHECKING BACK WITH YOU: Would you be willing to write a few last-minute checks...
Haven’t had an outpouring of response to yesterday’s appeal. Perhaps it’s because some of you don’t feel you know enough about the candidates I’ve asked you to consider supporting.
----
These three candidates have taken advantage of all the training, briefings and roundtables that ASA has offered. I think that shows a level of commitment that bodes well for their performance as board members. MPS board observers say a shift in the right direction of as few as two seats could move the board from highly dysfunctional to functional. This is extra important because the next board will select our next superintendent.
Want Kevin Ronnie or me to swing by and pick up one or more checks from you today? If you want to support more than one candidate with a single check, you can make it out to Milwaukee Fund for Public Education and just tell us how you want your money allocated.
Thanks,
Anne
Then came the primary, and then came an interesting exchange about ASA's sense of loyalty. Remember when Jodi Goldberg backed out of the offer to write ASA's position papers, and Mike Mathias got Kevin Ronnie's approval for the job? Well, Mike used that as a springboard to run for an open seat himself -- without ASA help. Interestingly, he got the Journal-Sentinel's endorsement, but NOT ASA's aid:
From: ASA-MKE@yahoogroups.com [mailto:ASA-MKE@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of
Anne Curley
Sent: Wednesday, February 18, 2009 4:05 PM
To: ASA-MKE@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [ASA-MKE] Final draft of e-mail to "Friends" mailing list?
Importance: High
Bruce, re: supporting Mike Mathias. I thought you made a good case on Monday as to why Annie would probably be a better board member, i.e., her ability to work with others and not be a lone ranger. Since Mike has declined to be associated with us, I'm inclined to stick with the three who have taken advantage of ASA...especially since that's how we're justifying raising money for them.
In the second draft below I have further strengthened the fundraising appeal, per Kevin's request. I've also acknowledged the obvious - that ReDonna needs a lot more help than David or Annie. Are folks OK with that?
So much for loyalty, eh?
Still, the target is Peter Blewett, so ASA focused its efforts on raising money for Redonna Rodgers:
From: ASA-MKE@yahoogroups.com [mailto:ASA-MKE@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of
Anne Curley
Sent: Tuesday, February 24, 2009 3:29 PM
To: ASA-MKE@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [ASA-MKE] Another fundraiser for ReDonna
FYI...Here’s the invite to the fundraiser I organized for ReDonna, targeting professional women. Have raised $2,700 from the hosts and friends listed and hope to raise at least another $2,000 at the event.
Now we just need to start raising some decent money for Annie and a bit for Dave. MMAC says it will underwrite a fundraiser for them. We should shoot for second week in March.
Anyone want to put some energy into organizing this? Shouldn’t be too hard. Lena is cleaning up the Friends of ASA list this week. We can send invites to those folks plus a subset of MMAC members who are most likely to be interested.
Still stinging from the poll snafu, Curley posted this note:
From: Anne Curley [mailto:anne@...]
Sent: Tuesday, February 24, 2009 9:26 PM
To: KOCZELA, Steven
Subject: MPS landscape poll project outcome
Steve – It’s been more than three weeks since we released the results of the poll conducted for Advocates for Student Achievement by Brilliant Corners.
We have had not one iota of publicity, due to the concerns raised by our critics regarding the methodology employed by Brilliant Corners and our inability to counter that criticism effectively since we’re not professional pollsters.
In addition, we have raised virtually no financial support as a result of the poll, which I attribute to our lack of credentials in presenting the results and the aforementioned credibility issues.
In short, while we certainly have gained some value from the insights produced by the poll, we received none of the added value you projected, in terms of publicity and fundraising, because Brilliant Corners backed out of its commitment to present its findings and essentially walked away from its own work.
In light of this outcome, I am writing to request a partial refund of the $11,900 paid by ASA to Brilliant Corners. After discussing this with other members of the Executive Committee, I’ve been instructed to ask for a minimum of a 25% rebate, i.e., at least $2,975.
Needless to say, we are extremely disappointed in the outcome of our decision to employ Brilliant Corners. This is especially true in light of the fact that every member of our Executive Committee except for me appears to have voted for President Obama. To have been mischaracterized as a right-wing organization is galling enough. To have been short-changed by a vendor to whom we have paid what amounts to a small fortune, relative to our tiny operating budget, because of this politically motivated lie is clear cause for action.
Let me know if you prefer that I address this request to Cornell, or submit it in a letter. Thanks in advance for pursuing a resolution, Steve.
Sincerely,
Anne
But as recently as March 21, the focus remains, for ASA, for Curley and for Ronnie, where it has always been: on defeating Peter Blewett:
From: "Anne Curley" <anne@...>
Date: Sat Mar 21, 2009 9:33 pm
Subject: Fund-raising phone calls
Lena has given Bruce, John, Kevin, me and herself lists of 20-25 "Friends of ASA" to call over the next few days to ask for contributions for ReDonna. We have two more groups of 25 people each that haven’t been spoken for. Can anyone else make these calls? ReDonna’s campaign has a real shot at winning, but only if she can raise enough to get her message out.
Anne
p.s. Although we’re all so busy that it’s tempting to cancel our 8 a.m. Monday meeting, I suppose we’d better meet to stay coordinated...right?
Whew.
I'm glad the election's only two weeks away. I don't think I could take much more of this.