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Sunday, March 11, 2007

UPDATED: Zac Crain’s Dallas mayoral campaign may be in jeopardy says it has enough signatures

Signature collection party Sunday night

By Pegasus News wire

Updated 10:53 a.m., March 12, 2007

Email Print Tell us your story Comments (22)

DALLAS — The following email has been circulating around town today, indicating that Zac Crain may not have enough signatures to get on the ballot by tomorrow. We saw it via the Adventure Club's email list:

From: Zac Crain

Sent: Sunday, March 11, 2007 4:30 PM

To: Zac Crain

Subject: Zac Crain for Mayor -- emergency

The Zac Crain for Mayor campaign is in crisis! We have not been able to collect the necessary signatures to get me on the ballot and they are due at 5 p.m. tomorrow. Arragh!

IF WE DON'T GET THESE SIGNATURES, I WON'T BE ABLE TO RUN FOR MAYOR. Period.

We are having an emergency signature-collecting party tonight (Sunday) at 7 p.m. at the Barley House, 5612 Yale Blvd., Dallas. If you are registered to vote in the city of Dallas, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE come out for 20 minutes, have a beer, and sign our sheets.

If you can find it, bring your voter registration card with you, too. That would help a ton.

I love you guys.

Zac

P.S. -- Pass this on if you could.

P.P.S. Seriously. I love you.

Posted by Mike

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Comments

hakoop Anonymous

I knew this guy was a joke. All the talk, hype and the bennie album, and you don't know any sooner than the last day that you don't have the sigs?

There may be a lot of whining and bellyaching if he doesn't come through tomorrow, but it's all proof that he doesn't have the organizational skills to be a mayor. Even if he pulls it off, I say it proves you shouldn't waste your votes.

1 year, 7 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )

Blair Lovern Staff

Wow. hakoop, you're correct. I mean, this is almost dog-ate-my-homework bad.

1 year, 7 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )

Zcfm Anonymous

Guys, let's be honest. Zac's campaign is a grassroots effort. Unlike other mayoral candidates with deep pockets who hire professional signature gatherers, Zac has to walk the streets, talk to people, and promote himself in ways that other candidates have the luxury of paying others to do for them. He has put his life and family on hold and worked tirelessly on this campaign because he believes in the future of Dallas. The reason for the email was to make certain that while we had the appropriate number of signatures, we had a level of overage to be safe. The sense of urgency created in the email was to help get this accomplished.

And, again, the "organizational structure" of this campaign is all-volunteer, made up of people who have daily jobs but donate their time because they believe in Zac and what he can do for Dallas. This is of course in stark contrast to other candidates who pay consultants tens of thousands of dollars to do the leg work.

If you're wanting to compare the dedication and hard work of all the candidates, take a look at those who do not hire consulting firms but do everything on their own because of what they believe in. Zac believes in Dallas, and has the dedication to make the real changes that this city needs.

Jonathan Rector

1 year, 6 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )

Zac Anonymous

We had more than enough signatures when that was circulated. But we wanted to be sure that, when we filed today, we had such a big cushion that there would be no possibility of not qualifying.

I could have said as much in the e-mails and such. But you don't get people to spring into action on a Sunday with periods. You get it with exclamation points.

1 year, 6 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )

stevendfw Anonymous

I would like to see some news to today on who filed for Mayor since today is the deadline.

1 year, 6 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )

Mike Orren

Mike Orren Staff

You will, after the deadline passes at 5:00.

1 year, 6 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )

Trey Kazee

Trey Kazee Verified

Let me get this straight: Zac is standing firmly behind what amount to a lie to his core constituents? I find that rather insulting. I've always kind of liked him as a person, and am somewhat shocked to see him take this stance.

Spin it as "exclamation points" or "periods" if you will - it reads "deception" in my book, and I would absolutely be looking at other candidates if I were still registered in Dallas.

1 year, 6 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )

atlasslipped Anonymous

Zac made it, according to Dave Levinthal. (Hi Dave!)

A shame.

Is Zac going to threaten to shut down the city every time there is a budget crisis?

Cry wolf. That's a good sign of leadership.

What a wasted opportunity for a real outsider candidate to make an impact.

1 year, 6 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )

Zac Anonymous

It wasn’t a lie. And I wasn't crying wolf. Let me explain this one last time so everyone is clear.

We technically had enough signatures to get on the ballot when that notice went out, sure. But we had JUST enough. Going in with 473 wouldn’t have gotten me on the ballot. No way. Not every signature we had could be 100 percent verified. Going in with one or two above the exact number would have been a disaster. So, yes, it was an emergency. Anyone who knows anything about the process and saw our numbers and saw the deadline would have said the same thing.

To go in with 473 signatures and that’s all would have been the same as writing a check and praying you have enough in your account to cover it. We didn’t think that was very smart, so we took measures to correct it. I couldn't turn to my paid signature collectors to get another hundred petitions signed.

Thanks to my hard-working volunteers, we were able to get more than 100 signatures over the line, providing the cushion (fingers crossed) to withstand a few disqualifications here and there. Was it because of the e-mail that went out? Not really. Most of those extra signatures we got last night came from those volunteers pounding the pavement.

It’s disappointing that this whole situation has been misconstrued as a lie. I don’t really understand why. Is it because I was confident that I’d get the signatures? If so, I only felt that way because I knew I could depend on the people of this city that I have met and that I believe in. I knew I was in good hands, and that we’d blow past that number before Monday afternoon.

Believe me, as much as I love the Barley House, the last place I wanted to be on a Sunday night was sitting at a table there, watching the front door with clipboard in hand. I have an almost-3-year-old son who does something new and awesome every few hours. I’d have rather been watching him.

Now, let’s start talking about some real issues. Please. Specifically, my plans to shut down the city in the event of a budget crisis.

1 year, 6 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )

Crispin Reedy

Crispin Reedy Verified

How many signatures are required to get on the ballot for the mayoral race, anyway?

1 year, 6 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )

Mike Orren

Mike Orren Staff

473

http://www.ci.dallas.tx.us/cso/elecin...

1 year, 6 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )

Michael Davis

Michael Davis Verified

"The sense of urgency created in the email was to help get this accomplished." ... sounds misleading.

Being a campaign manager in a City Council campaign and having worked many others, I'm fully aware of how the process works and having room to spare, etc. There are ways to check signatures in advance to make sure they're good.

I understand that you need extra signatures to be safe, but the e-mail looked bad and hurt you with your target audience. The PegasusNews demographic has to be strongly in your corner for you to have a shot to win. It's all good, but n this case I think it's best to say 'mea culpa' and re-energize your supporters.

I have to correct one thing...contrary to public belief, most campaigns are 90% volunteers.

1 year, 6 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )

Crispin Reedy

Crispin Reedy Verified

Wait a minute. He's been running for, what, a YEAR, and he had to send out a last minute call to make sure he got a little cushion room for 473 petition signatures?!

Hahahahhahaha. That's completely ridiculous. If you did 50 sigs a month for 12 months you could do that WAY EASY. Hell, on the run up to the 2004 election I registered 500 people to vote ALL BY MYSELF in six months.

1 year, 6 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )

Zac Anonymous

Michael: You're right. I'm sorry. End of story.

1 year, 6 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )

Blair Lovern Staff

Yeah, this isn't a lie. But as one who has worked on state and federal elections, I must say that if I were campaign manager for Zac (or if I were Zac himself) I'd be saying - what the @#$%! just happened today? This is the kind of thing that can do damage.

I'm just offering some constructive criticism, take it for what it's worth. But Zac Crain announced he was running for mayor in April 2006, which means he needed to get about 1.5 people per day to sign a petition to get on the ballot. That's not that much. In the past, I've glad-handled hundreds in one day for my candidate. I'm not saying you need to be a smoothy smooth, because those kinds of politicians irk me. And I'm not saying I glad-handled a few hundred into signing a petition.

But you need to get out there and tell people who you are and what you believe in instead of waiting to the last minute for people to come to you. Kinky had to get 45,000+ signatures in two months. Yeah, a governor's race is not a mayoral race. But Dallas isn't Mayberry, it's one of the biggest cities in America. You don't know after almost a year if you can get 500 people among 1.2 million?

Of course it's reasonable to want to make sure you have enough petition signatures. I'd be totally paranoid about it. But you, the candidate in general, need to seek the citizenry. You don't need to get into details about school reform or whatever else reform. You need to get signatures. And then after that you need to differentiate yourself from the rest. But you can't let voters know what makes you special if you're not on the ballot.

If you have a year to get fewer than 500 people to sign you need to make damn sure that happens. An effective campaign is a well-oiled machine, and the person responsible for that is at the top - whether it's the candidate or campaign manager, although an effective candidate should have the foresight to hire the best campaign manager available - all this is part of being a leader.

1 year, 6 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )

Michael Davis

Michael Davis Verified

Let the 60-day sprint begin!

http://dallasprogress.blogspot.com/20...

1 year, 6 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )

Trey Kazee

Trey Kazee Verified

I'm willing to concede that it wasn't a lie by most standards; and I'll apologize to you, Zac, for characterizing it as such. That having been said, this fell well below the threshold of integrity that I would have expected from you and your campaign.

To be honest, my first reaction wasn't critical. It's a grassroots campaign on a shoestring budget, and I understand mistakes are going to happen.

What turned it to disappointment for me was the reaction: the mindset that seemed to project that the end justified the means. As Michael points out, the fact that there was a "sense of urgency created in the email" was misleading. But this is the response that got me: "We had more than enough signatures when that was circulated.... I could have said as much in the e-mails and such. But you don't get people to spring into action on a Sunday with periods. You get it with exclamation points."

That spoke to intent with me, and when I saw that statement echoed here and elsewhere, it upset me. How does a campaign stand behind even the most subtle of manipulation in Dallas? Isn't there enough of that going around?

I wish only the best for the Crain folks. Zac has put together a dedicated team of talented folks, whom I believe strongly can (and do) have a wonderfully positive impact on Dallas - regardless of the election results.

Let's give Dallas what Dallas deserves: respect and integrity.

1 year, 6 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )

Leah Shafer Verified

As a person who helped collect signatures for the campaign, I'd challenge any naysayer to get out there with a clipboard and try to do it themselves. It is harder than you can ever imagine. We don't pay people to do this work--we do it ourselves!

We were so lucky to have the help of our dedicated volunteers to make these signatures happen. It was a labor of love and about 30 people busted their asses to make it happen. Anyone who wants to challenge the validity or efforts of the ZfM campaign can call me personally. I'll talk to anyone.

Leah 214-718-9500

1 year, 6 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )

just4udear Anonymous

30 people "busted their asses" to get 20 signatures each?

That does sound hard.

1 year, 6 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )

Crispin Reedy

Crispin Reedy Verified

LOL.

If I recall correctly, in order to get on the ballot county-wide you have to get somewhere around 2000-3000 signatures. I personally know of at least one judicial candidate (now a judge) who got all of those sigs mostly by himself, with maybe 2-3 other people helping him.

1 year, 6 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )

Mike Orren

Mike Orren Staff

I don't know that it is productive to beat up on Zac over how easy or hard it is to get signatures.

First, you have to give him props for coming here to answer his detractors. I haven't seen any other candidates doing so yet.

I think the issue is that there is a tremendous amount of hope surrounding an "outsider" candidate in a year with no incumbents and a field of thirteen.

And it causes some worry when there is a last minute emergency (which I believe this was, whether or not the campaign chooses to characterize it as such) to get the signatures. To win, Zac is going to have to convince voters, not only of his vision, but of his management skills.

One piece of unsolicited advice (which I often need to look in the mirror and take myself, as regards Our Little Business): You aren't going to win any votes using "we don't have the resources of the big guys" as an excuse. Nobody cares. That argument only works when the result is equal to the big guys and you can use it as an underline.

I thought a lot about Zac's campaign when watching this film on KERA last week:

Smith didn't win, but he came damn close-- closer than anyone would have thought. And in the end, it wasn't because of his vision. It was because he ran the best, most professional, most-organized campaign.

Now to be clear, I'm aggressively undecided on the Dallas mayor's race. And Pegasus doesn't endorse candidates. But I think the reaction you're seeing in the comments here speaks to the fact that many (of our readers at least) want to vote for an outsider candidate. The question is, now that the signatures are in, how can you best harvest those votes? I don't think the answer is vision or policy.

1 year, 6 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )

Bill Holston

Bill Holston Verified

"Zac Anonymous

Michael: You're right. I'm sorry. End of story."

Imagine another politician: 1. Reading all this 2. taking the time to respond 3. saying I'm sorry (!). and 4. Being brief. Any reason to elaborate?

I intend to vote for Zac. I intend to do so primarily because he personally knows and is interested in Dallas local music scene. Frankly, if a Mayor is interested in that, he's my man. this is exemplified in the fact that as recorded on Boca Tinta, he's donating cds to be sent to soldiers in Iraq, that Amanda is organizing. It's the kind of thing, I find personally very appealing.

before losing interest in the Zac, consider those 4 questions.

1 year, 6 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )

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