Local Campaigns Utilizing Online Tools to Advocate for CPA

Oct. 4, 2016: With only one month left until Election Day in November, we've seen a remarkable amount of activity in CPA adoption campaigns across the state. After months of grassroots campaigns, town meetings, city council votes, and ballot petitions, sixteen towns and cities will now be voting on CPA next month, which marks the highest number of communities voting that we've seen in the last ten years. As the excitement continues to build during these final weeks, we wanted to highlight some of the local campaigns as they are working towards educating their communities on the CPA program.

Among the cities voting this year, Amesbury, Boston, Holyoke, Pittsfield, Springfield, and Watertown all have excellent local campaign websites promoting the "Yes" vote. Invest in Amesbury was the most recent campaign to launch, as they were the final community to gather enough signatures from registered voters before the petition deadline. One of the highlights on their campaign website is a calculator that allows residents to look up what their surcharge would be if CPA is adopted. Another campaign that includes a handy surcharge calculator is the Boston campaign, Yes for a Better Boston. They have been running an extensive campaign throughout the summer, focusing on building a robust group of volunteers and garnering support from both Boston's mayor and their City Council. Nearby Watertown's local campaign, Invest in Watertown, encourages participation and donations from their supporters by distributing a stylized canvas bag as a token of appreciation to their donors. Meanwhile, on the Western side of the state, Preserve Pittsfield, Yes! For a Better Holyoke, and Springfield CPAdvocacy each launched their campaign sites after their respective City Councils approved CPA for the ballot over the summer. Each of their campaigns puts a special focus on describing examples of specific projects in their communities that could be funded if CPA is adopted.

While they may not be as large as the cities on our list, many of the towns with CPA on the ballot have local campaigns that are just as enthusiastic about adoption. Like Amesbury and Boston, Community Preservation Danvers has created a helpful surcharge calculator so that their voters can find out how the CPA surcharge would affect them. The Support CPA for Hull! campaign also hosts a surcharge calculator on their simple and informative website. CPA 4 Norwood highlights a "Ten Things You Should Know" list on their campaign site, including important, basic facts about CPA in an easy-to-read format. The campaign site for Wrentham Yes on CPA includes a detailed "Q&A" section that answers common questions about what adoption means for the community. Vote CPA for South Hadley has been going strong for many months with the longest running campaign on our list. After they lost by an incredibly narrow vote during their spring election earlier this year, their campaign hopes to finally put themselves over the finish line during the fall election. Finally, the East Bridgewater CPA Study Committee is utilizing social media to support their efforts, using Facebook to directly communicate with supporters and answering questions from residents.

While their campaigns do not yet have an online presence, the cities of Chelsea and Palmer and the towns of Billerica and Rockland will also be voting on CPA adoption next month. For additional information on individual surcharge levels and exemptions that each municipality is voting on, be sure to visit our Upcoming Elections page. With an unprecedented amount of adoption activity this year, we wish the best of luck to these campaigns as Election Day draws near.