Engineering Inc - March/April 2018 - 53

ACROSS THE FEDERATION

ACEC/West Virginia-led Campaign
Gains $1.6 Billion Roadbuilding Win

n an October 2017 special election, West
Virginia voters approved a $1.6 billion statewide road building bond by an overwhelming 73 to 27 percent margin. That outcome
was achieved, however, with a hard-fought
and innovative campaign led by ACEC/West
Virginia.
When newly elected Gov. Jim Justice took
office in January 2017, his primary goal was rebuilding West Virginia's crumbling infrastructure. The
legislature concurred, and a special election to let
voters decide the road building bond was scheduled
for Oct. 7, 2017.
Two months before the special election, Justice
switched from the Democratic to the Republican
Party.
"The party switch definitely delayed the start
of the road bond campaign and complicated the
dynamics," says ACEC/West Virginia Executive
Director Michael Haid. "There was nearly a 100
percent turnover in his staff. Much of the work that
had been done on the road bond suddenly came to a
screeching halt."
By the time the dust cleared, it was Labor Day, and the special
election was only one month away. "We hadn't started any public
education or outreach," says Haid. "People didn't know there was
an election or what it was about."
However, opponents of the bond measure were already organized and had a head start distributing negative and false information-specifically how the bond would raise people's taxes. In
reality, it wouldn't.
ACEC/West Virginia, along with other stakeholder groups-
Contractors Association of West Virginia and the West Virginia
Business & Industry Council-quickly joined forces on an emergency public outreach campaign.
"We began soliciting funds from engineers, contractors, corporations, law firms ... everyone who does business in West
Virginia. Within three weeks, we raised $500,000," says Haid.
Twenty-five of the 34 ACEC/West Virginia Member Firms
donated to the effort, and the Member Organization took the lead
in the advertising campaign. "We created TV spots, radio spots,
social media graphics, billboards and print ads," says Haid. "And
we put it together in a couple of days."
The campaign ran TV and radio ads throughout the state,
purchased full-page advertisements in major state newspapers, put
up 25 digital billboards and targeted social media. Additionally,
Rodney Holbert of Burgess & Niple in Parkersburg dressed up
as the West Virginia Mountaineer and took to the curb to urge
drivers to vote yes on the bond issue.

Rodney Holbert of
Burgess & Niple in
Parkersburg donned
Mountaineer attire
to urge motorists to
support the bond issue.

One of the challenges of the effort was funding. "We'd get
$50,000 one day, then nothing the next, and then another check
would come in. When we had enough, we would make supplemental ad buys," Haid says.
There was no time or money to do adequate polling to guide
their efforts in the push for voter support. "We had a hunch that
the northern part of the state would be the most difficult," says
Haid, "but everything was very fluid.
"We needed to tell people what the bond would do and
wouldn't do," says Haid. "There was a very detailed plan, down to
specific roads that would be built, but the public didn't know it."
The governor played a key role by holding 30 town hall meetings around the state to answer questions about the bond issue.
Haid spoke on behalf of ACEC/West Virginia at six of those
meetings.
"The governor deserves a lot of credit," says Haid. "The bond
was his idea, and he led the charge. In one day, he held five town
hall meetings. No one worked harder than he did."
The effort paid off on Oct. 7, 2017. "I was surprised by the
outcome," says Haid. "I thought we would win, but not by such a
big margin."
Since the special election, ACEC/West Virginia Member Firms
have seen a huge uptick in work.
"Work is coming out of the Department of Transportation very
fast. They're short-handed, so they're giving us projects and work
that in the past they would have done themselves," says Haid. "All
of our firms are working furiously around the clock. It's a very
exciting time for engineering in West Virginia." ■
MARCH / APRIL 2018

ENGINEERING INC.

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