County Board Approves Funding for Sith Lord’s Brother
October 03, 2014
County Board Chair Sharon Corrigan, 608.333.2285
County Board
Popular “Chad Vader” Character to Appear in Educational PSA on Voter ID
The Dane County Board of Supervisors on Thursday approved $20,000 in spending for the County Clerk to distribute three public service announcement videos educating voters on the new requirement to present photo identification in order to vote. One of the videos features Chad Vader, the popular character created by Madison natives Aaron Yonda and Matt Sloan. The Madison City Clerk will also contribute $20,000, and an additional $7,000 will be reallocated from the Clerk’s existing budget.
All three videos are currently available at countyofdane.com/voterid.
Chad Vader is, in a series of internet comedy videos, a grocery store manager and the younger brother of Darth Vader, the evil Sith Lord from the Star Wars movie franchise. The video featuring the character will run online only.
Two more traditional PSAs featuring former Madison Police Chief Noble Wray will run on network and cable television. Most of the expenditure will be spent on television ad time and internet ad placement, said Dane County Clerk Scott McDonell.
“According to a recent Marquette poll, 1 in 5 voters around the state are unaware of the recent court ruling requiring a valid ID to vote on November 4,” McDonell said in a statement after the meeting. “This campaign is designed to let voters know of the new rules in the few days remaining before the election.”
“The fact that we have three PSAs in two languages set to run on network, and cable, and targeted web ads is a real credit to everyone who worked on it,” said Supervisor Jeff Pertl.
McDonell called on Vader’s services earlier this yearto help educate voters on the County’s new vote tabulation machines.
In other business, the County Board approved the $555,000 purchase of properties on Packers Avenue on Madison’s northeast side, which the County will lease to the Dane County Housing Authority for purposes of providing ten units of affordable housing. The purchase price is $95,000 lower than what the County budgeted.
The County Board also met prior to its regular meeting as a committee of the whole to discuss racial equity issues. Officials from Multnomah County, Oregon were on hand to speak with the Board about their experience in addressing racial inequity.
“We always have to remember, whatever issues we deal with, we’re not the only ones,” said County Board Chair Sharon Corrigan. “Especially with big, important issues like racial equity, it’s critical to learn from the experiences of our peers and colleagues. It was a productive conversation and we have a lot to digest. I’m grateful to our friends from Oregon for offering their time and expertise.”
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