Sammy Winners: The "WeDemand" Coalition
The Modern-Day Sam Adams Award
When Daniel Regenold woke up on May 30, 2007, he didn’t know that in the next several months, he’d be spearheading a campaign against irresponsible politicians. But when he discovered that the
“I decided to get involved because I was outraged that the Commissioners had not listened to the voters,” he said. “When the voters speak, it is supposed to mean something. The arrogance the commissioners displayed by overturning the voters simply wasn’t acceptable.”
The Board of Commissioners claimed they needed the $800 million to build a new jail, but the jail’s price tag was only $200 million—the rest, they said, would be used for “other important government programs.”
Regenold didn’t buy it.
“The government is desperate for money and will not stop at any attempt to take more from the taxpayers,” Regenold said. “Citizens are starting to get more and more active. They are tired of seeing their shrinking resources taken away and spent on an ever-expanding government.”
Differing political opinions aside, all groups could agree on this: the voters must have a say.
To accomplish this, the coalition needed to gather 28,750 signatures in less than two months in order to put the issue on the November ballot and halt the tax increase. The coalition began by creating a website—WeDemandAVote.com—where citizens were able to download petitions to circulate, contribute to the cause, and find information about the referendum and about where they could sign petitions.
Additionally, the coalition gave 12 leaders explicit signature-gathering goals to meet, and each leader’s progress was monitored daily. In the end, all their efforts paid off: 11 of the 12 leaders met their goals, and the coalition gathered nearly 57,000 signatures—almost double the amount necessary—to put the issue on the ballot.
However, they didn’t stop there.
Once the matter was on the ballot as Issue 27, the coalition—now known as the “We Demand” Coalition—launched a new website, WeDemandABetterplan.com, to inform voters about the issue and why they should vote against it. The site sparked a lot of public interest—and negative media attention.
“The Cincinnati Enquirer said bad things about us from day one,” Regenold said. “They ran constant editorials against us—in the week before the vote, they ran four lead editorials in favor of the tax on four consecutive days. They wouldn’t print our letters to the editor. They wouldn’t give our views a voice.”
The opposition didn’t give up, either—they shelled out $984,000 in their effort to pass the multi-million-dollar tax increase. Meanwhile, the "WeDemand" coalition spent only $6,750.
In the end, however, the "WeDemand" coalition prevailed. The voters were given a say, and they spoke out loud and clear against the back-room tax increase: it was defeated 56 to 44 percent.
If that wasn’t enough good news, however, one of the coalition’s members stumbled across the Sam Adams Alliance & Foundation website, where the Sammy Awards Contest was being promoted—and on December 20, at the Sammie Awards Presentation in Chicago, the We Demand Coalition was awarded a golden bobblehead and the top Sammie prize, the $10,000 Modern-Day Sam Adams Award, for their important work to defend Ohio taxpayers and stand up to unaccountable politicians.
“We were absolutely flabbergasted, thrilled,” Regenold said. “This whole thing was about protecting the rights of the taxpayer, defending our liberty, holding the government accountable—which are core values of the Sam Adams Alliance. To be recognized for furthering these values means a lot to the entire coalition.”
The "WeDemand" coalition doesn’t plan on stopping their efforts to further these values anytime soon. In fact, their success so far has only spurred them on—they’re already working to reverse a nanny-state decision to install cameras to film all motorists, authorized by the City Council of Cincinnati.
“We plan to continue to protect the rights of taxpayers and be a constant watchdog to this ever-increasing government,” Regenold said.
