THUMBS AND UP, DOWN

摘要

If you wanted to win a library election in 2006, what would have been the mythical perfect referenda? For building referenda, the sweet spot was hit with measures over $10 million, on a ballot sometime between September and December, with no other items on the ballot, in a general election, for a library serving a population under 100,000. For the perfect operating referenda, you'd fare best in a general election, but the other variables—other items on the ballot, timing, or size of population—don't appear to have the same impact. Interestingly, libraries serving the largest population—over 100,000—fared the best in operating referenda and the worst in building referenda. However, no referendum is ever perfect, so you end up with mixed results, as evidenced by the 105 efforts reported in 2006—36 building referenda and 69 operating.