Stories About Us

Across The County, Voters Said “Yes”

BY DAVID LAWRENCE JR. posted in The Miami Herald, Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2008

That quite remarkable victory last week wasn't just because we are on the side of the angels (though we are). The Children's Trust was reaffirmed by voters, 86 percent to 14 percent. How did that happen? What does it tell us about the future of our community?

How remarkable? First, remember that this community tried to pass, back in 1988, a dedicated funding source for children. It failed, 2-1. In 2002, after 22 months of polling, strategizing, raising money and taking all the necessary steps for a successful campaign, the same issue prevailed, 2-1. To give us a better chance of passage that year, we added a ''sunset'' provision -- that is, dear voter, try this for five years, and if you like it, we, the people of Miami-Dade, can keep investing in children past all our lifetimes. That was the vote on Tuesday last week.

Now add two more factors: 1. These are tough economic times, the toughest ever for many people. (One cannot forget that this is a tax, albeit an affordable one: $57.88 a year for a median-assessed-value homeowner); 2. We live in a place where you can barely turn around before seeing another scandal involving the public trust. There is so much mistrust where we live, and ''trust'' is the crucial issue in our community.

So if you had to pick a tough time to have an election, this was it.

Yet here's what we know from sophisticated Bendixen & Associates polling analysis from the election and the voting that took place by absentee and early voting before then: 77 percent of Hispanics voted for this, 85 percent of non-Hispanic whites and an almost-astonishing 97 percent of black and African-American voters.

When was the last time that more than three-quarters of all Hispanic, non-Hispanic white and black voters supported the same candidate or an important electoral issue?

Never, says a man who knows more about polling and political strategy than anyone I know. That is Sergio Bendixen, the internationally known pollster and strategist, a Miamian and absolutely key to this splendid victory last Tuesday.

One more remarkable number: The children -- and The Children's Trust -- won 763 precincts. Just one precinct -- Precinct 369, in the northwest corner of Miami-Dade -- was lost (quite overwhelmingly I might add, two for and six against).

The children won for at least five reasons:

• The grassroots: The campaign mobilized thousands of volunteers . . . it had a precinct captain in more than 400 precincts . . . more than a thousand volunteers for The Children's Trust were at the early-voting sites and at the Election Day precincts to provide last-minute information to voters. Bendixen would tell you that this level of grassroots activity for a candidate or issue -- phone calls, e-mails, post cards, yard signs, neighborhood meetings -- is unprecedented in recent Miami-Dade political history.

• Political consensus: The campaign put together a political coalition that united Democrats and Republicans . . liberals, moderates and conservatives . . . people of every race and national origin, the rich and poor and those in between, people my age and those younger and older, business and civic and labor leaders.

• Strong leadership: Bishop Victor Curry and the more than a hundred pastors he activated and energized . . . Claudia Puig and the support of the key Spanish-language talk radio personalities -- Martha Flores, Armando Perez Roura and so many more . . . the relentless efforts to raise the dollars necessary to run the campaign . . . Bendixen and the professional team of campaign staffers that he recruited and organized, including campaign manager Susan Vodicka, Da-Venya Armstrong, Freddy Balsera and many more. The wisdom and expertise of Alicia Apfel and Obdulio Piedra.

• Communications strategy: TV, radio and newspaper ads targeted high-information voters likely to participate in a low-turnout primary in August. Messages delivered by Alonzo and Tracy Mourning, Bishop Curry, Jeb Bush, Leticia Callava, Armando Perez Roura, Maurice Ferre and Piman Bouk were consistent, easy to understand and based on the ballot language that voters would read.

• The accomplishments of The Children's Trust: None of this could be done had there not been the record to stand upon, meaning: The 45,000 children who had higher-quality after-school care and summer camp, the 165 public schools with health teams, the millions invested in programs for children with special needs, the still more millions invested in incentives for higher-quality, brain-stimulating childcare, the programs to diminish violence and much more. Give many people credit for that, including the staff led by Modesto Abety as well as the 33-member board.

We live in a community so often roiled by painful tensions. Last week's vote tells us we can get beyond those tensions, respect one another and respect our differences and unite on a future that embraces everyone.

If that seems Pollyanna-ish -- just plain naive -- remember what the people of Miami-Dade did last week for children, all children. There is a lesson for all of us in this election.

David Lawrence Jr. chairs The Children's Trust of Miami-Dade and is president of The Early Childhood Initiative Foundation