the big push; setting up the TOC

I just sent this out to the troops in the campaign to Put It On The Ballot. I'm sharing with all of you. Just jump on in.

There's a big push going on in Northeast Ohio to preserve basic American freedoms, specifically, the right to vote on whether or not, and how much, we are taxed (http://www.putitontheballot.com/about). Two of our three county commissioners have decided to raise the sales tax effective October 1st by 1/4%, from 7.50% to 7.75%. They could have had us vote on it in November, but they opted to bypass getting public approval for what, over the next 20 years, will amount to over $800 million dollars collected and spent. Their resolution shows the money going to the general fund, unrestricted.

The public is now tasked with collecting 46,000 signatures on petitions for a referendum to put this sales-tax issue on the ballot. We feel we are about 2/3rds of the way done, but will not start calling in our circulators Tuesday with all of them in hand by late Thursday night. Our petitions are due at The County Auditor on Friday. We currently have enough petitions on the street to bring back as many as 130,000 signatures.

We have great potential and momentum and want to put this one over the top; we want to leave no margin for error as we restore our right to vote on our taxation, in March of next year.

This afternoon, Monday, August 20th, the TOC (Tactical Operations Center) for the Put It On The Ballot (PIOTB) referendum in Cuyahoga County will open at 2 PM--1400 if you want to get all military about it. It will stay open 24 hours a day until Friday, August 25th at 1400. It will be staffed at all times. We will be handing out petitions at the front door, printing walking lists and maps for anyone who wants them, and taking finished petitions back in and transporting them off-site for safe-keeping. There seems to be more at stake here than we originally realized.

Website: http://putitontheballot.com

Location: 4022 Denison Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio 44109, near where I-71, I-77, I-90, I-176, and I-490 all come together. It's just off I-71's Fulton Road exit

Google Map: http://maps.google.com/maps?q=4022+Denison+Ave,+Cleveland,+OH+44109,+USA&sa=X&oi=map&ct=title

Based on our experience on the street the past few weeks, we have a county in which at least 90% of the registered voters want to sign our petitions. They thank us for taking the time to help protect their interests. They come looking for us, saying a friend told them they just had to find a petition and sign it. We simply need more circulators to get the petitions out to the signers. We need more troops on the street, door to door, house to house, during the day and into the evening, in the libraries and in the senior centers, in the rec centers and at the Rapid stops.

For a referendum campaign like this one, circulators need only to be residents of Ohio.

Please advertise our request for assistance with circulating the http://PutItOnTheBallot.com petitions to all blogs, other electronic media such as email and other social networking mechanisms, and all mainstream media such as newspapers, television, and radio. Having alternative media in support of traditional media, or vice versa, is our signal advantage here, and this is the first instance that we know of nationally where a strong blog network can make a compelling difference. Working together, here in NorthEast Ohio, we can change the way we conduct our political business

Our support from all of you volunteers, friends, and media professionals has been excellent thus far, and we just need to put more troops on the street this last week to ensure a proper, decent, and equitable outcome in Cuyahoga County.

Tim & Gloria Ferris

216-255-6640
216-351-0254
216-373-4955 FAX

taferris@gmail.com
gloria.ferris@gmail.com