Unexpected Opposition
In Colorado, there is a state law that
does not allow annexation from
one jurisdiction to another without
the approval of the voters of the
jurisdiction from which the land is to
be annexed. Denver needed over 40
acres of Adam’s County land in order
to have the qualified land base to build
the new Denver International Airport.
Because of the success of the existing
1985 brokered deal, opposition
to this annexation from Adam
County citizens and politicians was
completely unexpected. As a result,
the pro-airport campaign was failing
to persuade Adam County voters to
approve the annexation of the land. It
had spent approximately $1.2 million
in media ads and brochures “selling”
the benefits of a new airport by using
the usual newspaper interviews
and ads extolling the virtues and
benefits of this new airport for
citizens of Adams County.
It is customary for project
management to use the tools of
the formal system to influence
the delivery of a project. This
is especially true when a project
becomes disrupted by public
opposition. When disruption
occurs, project management
mobilizes public relations firms,
lobbyists and multi-media
campaigns organized for TV and
other media outlets. The object is to
persuade the public that the project
is a good contribution to the health
and welfare of the community.
Bringing in JKA
Late in the process—with the land
annexation vote looking like it
would lose—the airport committee
asked then-Governor of Colorado,
Roy Romer, to intervene and
take charge of the campaign. His
mission was to persuade Adams
County citizens and businesses to
support the annexation effort.
This is why five weeks before the
vote in November of 1988, Jim Kent
found himself answering a phone
call from Governor Romer and
staff member, Judy Harrington. The
governor explained that the formal
campaign was not going well and
that if the vote were “taken today,”
Denver would lose the vote by five
points and the airport could not
be built at its current location. The
governor wanted to know what
could be done to turn this election
around. He asked if JKA’s informal
networking approach “could assist
in turning this election.” This was
no small order when there was only
five weeks left to get into the field!
JKA requested two days to evaluate
the situation and determine what
was going on with the Adams County
people who would vote on this
referendum. By doing a social scan of
the area and by dropping into several
gathering places, the JKA team found
what they needed: the “fatal flaw”
that was bringing the campaign for
annexation approval down to defeat.
JKA had discovered what is termed
in the social ecology process as
an “embedded issue.” Apparently,
there existed a common belief that
“there would be no jobs or business
opportunities at DIA for Adams
County people.” This was not true,
but it had the characteristics of
an embedded issue—one that is
reinforced daily through trusted word-of-mouth communication. What JKA
now knew was that the existing formal
campaign would never be able to
effectively penetrate the false narrative
that had become accepted by the
community. To persuade the people
that this rumor was just not true, a
different plan was needed.
New Course of Action
The Governor was informed that
for the next five weeks, he would be
needed every morning from 6: 30 am
to 8:00 am to visit every coffee shop
in Adams County. He was to bring
no paper to write on or handouts
and was not allowed to use “talking
points” or “sell talk.” He had to listen
to the people and if he needed to
draw something, he should “draw on
a napkin.” The team working with
the Governor needed to find the
real issues that the people had and
respond to them. Of course, there were
no substantive issues to refute since
the rumor of “no jobs, no business
opportunities at DIA” was not true.
In addition, every Saturday the
Governor would attend the flea
markets to visit the booths and talk
to the vendors about their issues and
observations. Vendors are natural
