01 Jun PCUN/APP the difference in the passage of the Woodburn School Bond

20 years. That’s how long it had been since the last Woodbun School Bond  had passed (1994). In fact, it was so long ago that most of the youth that lead our “ground game” to get out the vote weren’t even alive back then.

Here is the breakdown of the results from this election and the close-call from a year ago:

May 2015          May 2014 (Governor Primaries too)
Yes: 1899       Yes: 1604
No: 1574           No: 1641
Diff: +325          Diff: -37

Not only was the result impressive but Woodburn also had the highest voter turnout in Marion County at 39% and doubled the State’s average.

So what made the difference this time around? How about the 3,000 doors the 75+ PCUN and Accion Politica PCUNista volunteers knocked on in 19 days leading up to the election. The only day our volunteers took off was Mothers Day. But I’m pretty sure they were organizing their families and friends on that special day too.

There were many moments that stood out from this campaign, but let me just share a couple: 

One the first day we went out  the first person we encountered was a retired military veteran who lives in Woodburn’s Senior Estates. As soon as we opened our mouths he shouted, “where do I signed! Where do I signed!” Obviously, there was no signature needed, just his vote. When we asked him why he was supporting the Bond he got serious for a moment, looked at the youth straight in the eyes, and said, “Because you are our future!”

As I said earlier, we had over 70 volunteers. One of them was Angel (Pic-blue shirt), a senior out of Woodburn’s Success alternative school. Angel showed up one afternoon to help. Apparently, he had heard about our campaign from one of his teachers. After knocking on about 30 doors that afternoon, some of which happened to be his buddies, I asked him why he came. He said, “I’m graduating this year. I’ll be the first in my family. When I’m done with school I want to live and work and Woodburn. When I have a family I want my kids to have schools. That’s why I’m doing this.”

Lastly, as we know in this work no victory stands alone. Our voter registration efforts from the last two decades, the six prior attempts to pass the Bond, and our recent campaign to pass Measure 88 (Oregon’s Drivers Card), were all building blocks towards this victory. Thank you for all those that contributed. This victory is just the beginning…

Adelante!

Jaime Arredondo

Accion Politica PCUNIsta (APP)- Coordinator

PCUN- Secretary-Treasurer