Hi Friend,

I don't normally do this, but the team are really under the pump this weekend, and I'm wondering whether you might lend a hand?

It's now just 10 days until voting opens for council elections. 

Last week we emailed every candidate we've been able to find contact details for to sign the Ratepayer Protection Pledge to keep rates at the level of inflation, improve democracy, and transparency.

Friend, all week Sam, Tory, and our interns have been non-stop calling and emailing candidates asking them to sign the pledge.

The Pledge states that they will:   

1. Oppose any measures that will see the total burden of rates, levies, and additional council charges, exceed the level of inflation and population growth.   
2. Support initiatives that improve transparency of council expenditure, including the public disclosure of all expenditure items (known as ‘armchair audit’ and ‘open data’)  
3. Oppose unelected appointments onto council committees with spending or regulatory powers. 

But with 3,466 candidates, we're just not getting through enough of them.

I'm emailing to ask whether you can spare a few minutes this weekend to contact your local mayoral and council candidates to ask them to sign the pledge? 

A copy of the pledge we're asking them to sign and send back to us is here.

Friend, a call, email, or text message from you (i.e. a local voter) is likely to be far more effective at convincing candidates to get off the fence.

Some candidates are telling us "I agree with the Pledge, but I'm not sure if I should sign".

Classic politicians, trying to have it both ways! That’s why your message matters. When candidates hear directly from local voters like you, it changes their calculation.

Only you can tell them: "As a local, I won't vote for you, unless I see that you have signed the Pledge..."

We've pulled together this page linking to the details of every candidate around the country. 

Sam and the interns have been glued to the phone all week and are in the office on the phones today. But progress is slow, and there are a lot of 'wait and see' holdouts. We really need to pull out a grassroots/volunteer effort to pull this one off.

Will you lend us a hand and politely ask your local council election candidates to sign?

>>> Contact the candidates in your local ward this weekend and ask them to sign the Ratepayer Protection Pledge.

Next steps:

Meanwhile, we're working hard to build a website and a 'how to vote' ad campaign, so voters can see who stands with ratepayers and have signed the Pledge. While we chip away on that, can we count on you to get candidates over the line and sign the Pledge?

Thanks as always

Jordan @ Taxpayers' Union

Sent from my iPhone (please excuse typos)