Outside Groups and Consultants Influencing
Consultant Larry Tramutola and
“Sidewalk Strategies”
The PAUSD contracted with
well-known election consultant Larry Tramutola prior
to advancing Measure I to the Fall 2004 Ballot. Tramutola was paid
about $45,000, according to PAUSD records.
An additional $40,000 was paid to Tramutola’s
company by the residents and business interests (heavily influenced by real
estate interests) who collected over $100,000 to bankroll the Measure I election.
Based on the political
manipulations of consultants like Larry Tramutola,
the campaigns to raise taxes are not the thinking of local residents who
actually understand the finances of the School District, but are commercial
products of people who are not residents, and who receive extremely high fees
for their services -- whether the tax measure wins or fails.
When reading Measure I (and now
Measure A) campaign literature, it is very difficult to understand what is the
thinking of the people who live in the District, and what are the sophisticated
marketing ploys of Tramutola
and his behind the scenes manipulations of local elections.
The following are a few quotes
from Chairman Larry Tramutola’s book on how to win
elections and raise taxes:
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TRAMUTOLA
QUOTES [page references are in brackets]
From
"Sidewalk Strategies, Seven Winning Steps for Candidates, Causes and
Communities",
by Larry Tramutola (TurnKey Press 2003)
1. “Our firm is one of the most
successful political consulting firms in the country” [11].
2.
“My company has won over 400 local elections…from conservative
communities like
3.
“We have been successful over 95% of the time” [14].
4.
“We have passed billions of dollars in tax measures” [12].
5.
“We have helped raise more taxes than anyone in
6.
“Winning is nice, but knowing how to win is better” [13].
7.
Therefore, “a political campaign needs a plan” [87].
8.
“Once a measure is placed on the ballot, a campaign plan is developed” [210].
9. “Think of it like a game where you must understand the rules, and the first rule is to learn the rules of your
election” [88].
10. “By
using easily available voter files, one can identify unlimited combinations of
voters and send targeted messages…the possibilities are
virtually endless, and by blending polling information, census data and tax
assessor information, it is possible to classify voters based on even more
demographic variables, and then to use this information, to
identify various issues and themes that may resonate with the different subsets
of voters” [158-59].
11.
“Technology…provides the consultant with the ability to target groups of people
based on assumptions and research about how people who share demographic traits
may react to certain messages” [158].
12.
“The internet, and the ability it provides people to communicate directly with
others, is rapidly changing the face of politics” [201].
13. Therefore
“most political campaigns these days have a web site to provide information to
voters” [203].
14.
“Who votes in a particular election is largely determined by the type of
election” [88].
15.
“Today, at best, only 3 out of 10 people who are registered to vote actually
vote in local…elections” [104].
16.
“Likely voters generally are older and more conservative than the population”
[228]. They “may represent 50%-60% of likely voters in any election”
[83].
17. “New
technologies allow campaigns to target various subsets of voters and to ignore others” [158].
18.
“Finding a theme that resonates with local concerns is more important than a
catchy slogan” [140].
19.
Therefore, “renters are sent one piece of mail, homeowners another”
[140].
20.
“There is not one campaign that we are involved in that I do not worry that by using our sophisticated tools to
target, analyze and segment voters, we are in fact hurting
the democratic process” [158].
21. “If
someone is offering something free, question its validity and rest assured the
firm offering the free service is going to make money somewhere down the line”
[230].
22.
“After the agency gets a measure on the ballot, no public money or resources
may be spent advocating or supporting the measure” [232].
-------
Following
the Money
The use of public money to pay Larry Tramutola
for his expertise in influencing elections is sometimes difficult to find out
about. Public Records Requests made to
the PAUSD were required to learn of the $45,000 that was paid to this Oakland-based
consultant. Filings with the FPPC
revealed the remaining $40,000 of private money that was paid to Tramutola. What Tramutola and his organization did for $80,000 dollars is
not exactly clear. However, what is
clear is that without Tramutola’s expertise that the
polished flyers and lawn signs might not be quite so professional in their look
and feel. The message that the promoters
of Measure I brought into the voters homes was not the thinking of people who
live here in
From looking at some of Tramutola’s
quotes in the sampling above, it is clear that from thinking like [20] above Tramutola is clearly not interested in “democracy”, but
instead sells his services as a “winning machine”. It is difficult to believe that any meaningful
dialogue about the issue on the Ballot is likely to be openly discussed in
campaigns that are crafted under ideas promoted in Tramutola’s
quotes above. Certainly the lack of
dialogue during the Measure I campaign between those opposed and those promoting
this tax was non-existent. It is
difficult to believe that consultants like Tramutola
would be supportive of the facts that rendered his campaign sound-bytes
impotent.
Getting
The Vote Out
From Larry Tramutola’s list of
quotes above:
15.
“Today, at best, only 3 out of 10 people who are registered to vote actually
vote in local…elections” [104].
Palo Altans generally do not vote
except in elections where taxes are concerned.
City Council elections have seen only 25%-35% of the voters actually going
to the polls of late. Consultants like Tramutola are keenly aware of this fact, targeting mostly
voters who are likely to actually vote.
Based on the rules of voting, minorities of 20-30 percent can become
majorities at the polls if they can get their base out on polling day. Special elections have become the tool of
preference of
Vox Populi?
There was a time that small town American-style democracies
were the envy of the world because people were able to speak their minds about
the issues of the day. With Tramutola-style election manipulations, it is difficult to
see any real democracy in action when Governmental agencies (like the PAUSD)
employ the likes of such consultants.
When special interests, like the local Palo Alto Real Estate Interests
engage the talents of such consultants, small-town democracy is likely to
disappear and the vision of special interests will be branded into the fabric
of the community.