Julie Adrianopoli has spent several hours urging county residents over the phone to support the replacement tax. A resident of Westlake, she's one of about 30 phone bank volunteers representing the arts community in the campaign push. As she prepares to call it a night, Adrienopoli says arts and culture groups have promoted the levy in a variety of ways.
Julie Adrianopoli: We have had over 11 organizations give curtain speeches and hand out literature in their programs and materials that they hand out at their events. We have held a rally for the HHS Issue which was attended by about 50 arts and culture leaders in NE Ohio - CC in particular. We have participated in the phone bank night tonight. We are also helping to staff the polls.
The Lyric Opera is among those actively engaged in the campaign. General Director. David Bamburger is also a phone volunteer.
David Bamburger: We think it's terribly important. In the arts in a sense, we're in the make-believe world and we revel in that. But while we're asking for support for what we do, at the same time it's absolutely critical that the people that are needy in the community have the support they need, and of course something like the Metro Health program, with the burn unit, the trauma unit - that can benefit anyone of us at any time. You just never know.
The yes to Issue 15 effort enjoys active support from several other camps. Social service organizations dependent on the levy stand to benefit directly from the tax - they've provided volunteers and other resources. And - despite the publicity generated by the AFL-CIO's initially neutral stand - individual labor unions are also involved - some 30 of them, according to campaign director Lee Weingart.
Lee Weingart: They're helping in a lot of ways. First they're raising money and giving money to the campaign, secondly they're giving a lot of volunteer time. We'll probably end up doing most of our poll workers from organized labor.
Weingart says he hasn't been bothered by the AFL-CIO's remaining on the sidelines for most of the campaign. He says the umbrella group doesn't always support levy proposals, but member unions are free to take their own positions.
Lee Weingart: So we've seen for example AFCSME and Teamsters and steelworkers and ironworkers and everybody across the board - with the exception of one union - supporting the levy in a big way.
That one union - Service Employees International Union 1199 - has been very vocal in its opposition to Issue 15. The group's leadership believes much of the money funneled to social service agencies is misspent, squandered on things like hefty CEO salaries and perks, expensive banquets, artwork and the like. But those are just peripheral beefs. The union's chief complaint, its officials say, involves what boils down to union busting.
Dale Butland: We find that there are lots of agency activities designed to interfere with workers' ability to decide whether or not they want to join a union.
That's Dale Butland, now a former spokesman, speaking in early April.
Dale Butland: That's not an acceptable use of HC dollars in our opinion.
Butland told WCPN Friday that he's left SEIU's campaign against passage of Issue 15, prompted by the AFL-CIO's conversion to "levy supporter". Local 1199 remains the sole source of organized opposition. But with 5,000 members and money to spend, union President Dave Regan says the campaign against is visible, and will stay so right up through election day.
Dave Regan: We'll be doing phone calls, delivering campaign literature at work sites...
...and, of course, media buys. Television ads abound from both sides. One paid for by SEIU has drawn accusations of ethics violations from levy proponents - that charge will be heard by the Ohio Elections Commission today.
Meanwhile, Dave Regan says he doesn't think AFL-CIO's shift to the pro side will have much effect on the vote's outcome. But the umbrella union has mobilized to give the "yes" campaign an additional boost. Spokesman John Ryan says its organized a short-term campaign that aims to reach tens of thousands of residents at home, and workers on the job. The extra help comes at an optimum time - heading into the home stretch. Voters will decide whether or not to approve the new tax tomorrow. In Cleveland, Bill Rice, 90.3.