Citizens of Yelm, also known as Citizens for Support of Yelm Schools, is increasing its efforts to raise awareness for the Feb. 11 educational programs and operations levy special election following the 2024 double levy failure.
Ashley Brooks, chair of the nonprofit organization, said the group is focusing on gathering alumni, parents and other local organizations, including unions and booster clubs, to amplify their message of saying yes for Yelm schools.
“We’re getting more boots on the ground but focusing more on social media and why it’s so important to be a part of this levy campaign,” Brooks said during a recent Nisqually Valley News Bites podcast episode. “We’re making it fun and involving more teens and showing up to family events to really show what Yelm is about.”
Citizens of Yelm was active in the effort to pass the levy in 2024 in both the February and April elections with putting up signs around town, going door to door, and visiting events in the community to spread the word. Brooks believes that because the community has witnessed what a school year without levy funds looks like, notably with the more than 100 staffing positions that were cut and many activities that were lost, the outcome will be different.
“After the first levy loss in February, we felt grief. Every level of it. We felt anger, confusion and misunderstanding,” she said. “When we went for the second run in April, that added more anger. That’s when you saw the high schoolers come out and that’s when you saw the teachers come out, and now we’re making sure that they stay out and stand up with us.”
This year, the organization is filling out postcards to spread awareness about the levy and creating 10-second testimonial videos featuring people of all ages explaining why voters should support the levy. Student representatives on the Yelm school board have helped Citizens of Yelm express the importance of levy-funded clubs and activities in the school district, as well.
“Everybody that’s been affected by the $15 million in cuts, we need every one of them to see in their busy schedules to find a way to support, whether it’s a like or comment or share on our Facebook page, or whether it’s an email to their friends,” Brooks said.
Additionally, Brooks and the Citizens of Yelm organization are gathering support for groups that may have been left out in the levy efforts last year, including the military and families who don’t speak English as a first language. Citizens of Yelm created a landing page on its website in Spanish.
“I don’t have to identify them as they come up to me and other board members and say, ‘That really sucked that this levy didn’t pass. I just wish that I could vote, but I’m military so I can’t.’ Then I say, ‘OK, we’re gonna fix that,’ ” Brooks said. “We’re creating a kind of a liaison relationship with these communities or groups or neighborhoods.”
For the second straight year, Citizens of Yelm is working to clarify misinformation regarding the levy measure, most notably that it is a replacement tax, not a new tax. Members are explaining why the levy dollars are necessary to operate throughout a school year and how they fill in the gaps left by the state.
“We’re led to believe that public education is funded at the state level, and, unfortunately, our legislators are failing us. They can do more,” Brooks said.
Brooks added that the organization has hired a campaign manager in order to increase and amplify its message to vote yes for Yelm schools. The group is also making sure that every community, whether in Thurston or Pierce county, is heard and has an opportunity to voice its concerns.
Instead of focusing on the voters who voted against the levy, Citizens of Yelm is focusing on registered voters who are not voting because of the area’s low voter turnout. Out of 19,048 registered voters, only 5,434 ballots were cast in the April 23 special election.
“We have the lowest voter turnout in Yelm, so that’s what I’m focusing on is those that are registered to vote. Let’s make sure that they vote yes and know what time to do it,” Brooks said. “We’re giving constant reminders and repetitive things. A friend of mine told me if you hear it three times then it gets stuck in your head. We’re being repetitive with the right information.”
To learn more about Citizens of Yelm and its efforts, visit its Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/citizensofyelm and its website at https://yelm.org/.
